I guess Tuesday is the Ohio primary, correct? I suppose it’ll tell us a few things, unless it tells us nothing. Joe Blystone, “constitutional conservative” and cowboy-hatted dipshit with a Santa Claus beard, won’t make a dent in the governor’s race, but I’ve been amused by his candidacy ever since the Cincinnati Fucking Enquirer identified him as “Farmer Joe Blystone” in some earlier story. I just checked his campaign website. Of course one of his issues is?
Election integrity is a major issue on the minds of Ohioans. While the design of Ohio’s system has many strengths, we still have issues that draw attention to a need to do better.
There were two links in that statement. One took me to the Ohio section of the Heritage Foundation’s vast database on election fraud. It used to be hosted by WhiteHouse.gov, but isn’t anymore, teehee. For the hell of it, I clicked on the first case, from 2021:
Edward Snodgrass, a registered Republican and a Porter Township Trustee, was charged with one felony count of illegal voting after submitting an absentee ballot on behalf of his deceased father in the 2020 General Election. As part of his plea deal, Snodgrass pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of falsification, was sentenced to three days in jail, and fined $500.
Hmm. There’s one vote. (Never mind it’s a Republican.) Here’s the next one on the list, from 2019:
Yaakov M. Schulman, of Columbus, was found guilty of illegal voting for voting as an alien. Schulman was charged with one count of false election registration and one count of illegal voting, and was found gulty of illegal voting, a fourth degree felony, by a jury. He was sentenced to community control (probation) for two years, ordered to complete cognitive behavioral programming, and was ordered to pay a $2,500 fine and $1,812 in court fees.
And so on. The list is full of stuff like this, but we’re so distracted we don’t even check. People see the Heritage Foundation has a database of 1,353 cases of voter fraud and assume HUGE PROBLEM. When the list is almost all penny-ante shit like this. But keep trying, Heritage Foundation. Here’s their splash-screen copy:
The Heritage Foundation’s Election Fraud Database presents a sampling of recent proven instances of election fraud from across the country. Each and every one of the cases in this database represents an instance in which a public official, usually a prosecutor, thought it serious enough to act upon it. And each and every one ended in a finding that the individual had engaged in wrongdoing in connection with an election hoping to affect its outcome — or that the results of an election were sufficiently in question and had to be overturned. This database is not an exhaustive or comprehensive list. This database is intended to demonstrate the vulnerabilities in the election system and the many ways in which fraud is committed.
“…hoping to affect its outcome” made me laugh. Isn’t that why people vote at all?
I don’t know who will win the gubernatorial primary in Ohio. It’s the Senate that everyone’s paying attention to. Don’t know that one, either, but whichever Republican it is, it’ll be a terrible, terrible one.
So. I guess the big talker over the weekend was the Tucker Carlson thing in the NYT — you can look it up if you haven’t clicked out yet this month. (Does the NYT free-articles meter reset on the first of the month, or does the 30 days roll over?) I’m still working my way through it. I don’t know if there’s any one thing to say about it, other than: Hmm, what an asshole, but anyone who didn’t know that already has been failing to keep up. Just did a Twitter scroll and discovered there is no shortage of wannabes out there stoking fear and anger, particularly about public schools and teachers. I know it’s trendy to say someone’s going to get killed over this, but from the tone and hysteria of the clamor, I think it’s only a matter of time.
And now I think I’m-a walk Wendy. I leave you with this excellent joke:
That cut to Peter Doocy…
“Everyone had to prove they were fully vaccinated and boosted. So if you are at home watching this and you wonder how to do that, just contact your favorite Fox News reporter. They’re all here, vaccinated and boosted, all of them.” pic.twitter.com/kA56YzjiVU
— Matt Wilstein (@mattwilstein) May 1, 2022
And wish you all a good week.
Jeff Borden said on May 1, 2022 at 5:27 pm
You’re correct. Regardless of who wins the QOP Senate primary race, Ohio will send an unmitigated asshole to D.C
112 chars
FDChief said on May 1, 2022 at 8:49 pm
What the hell is wrong with people?
In a sane world Tucker Carlson would be a failson in “charge” of the cleaning products division of his pop’s frozen fish business. Just like Tubby, he’s the symptom, not the disease.
And those Heritage rascals! Let’s see…1,353 divided by roughly 150 million – the combined total of the votes cast in 2020 – comes to…ummm…let’s see…oh, here we are; 0.00000902, or 9/one-millionths of one percent.
“Affect it’s outcome” my rosy red ass. Nice try, nimrods. Lucky for you your MAGAts are as innumerate as they are decerebrate.
575 chars
jcburns said on May 1, 2022 at 10:26 pm
Ohio may, might, could possibly vote for a Democrat for Senate who, like Sherrod Brown, will vote for the issues that make a difference in their lives. It could happen.
I sure hope it happens.
196 chars
Dexter Friend said on May 2, 2022 at 3:55 am
Come November we’ll need a Stacey Abrams to get the truth out. She’s busy, so we’ll need someone just like her to get the Blue voters out in force…here in Ohio we can’t send any one of these asshole Republicans to Washington, we just can’t. I’ll be voting, of course.
270 chars
Jim said on May 2, 2022 at 7:33 am
according to Ms Compost-Heap, none of Foxys have been jabbed .
62 chars
Mark P said on May 2, 2022 at 8:47 am
Republican accusations of voter fraud are pure projection, just like most of their complaints.
I just read a March article by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution about our probable Republican Senate candidate. It seems he really is a Trump junior when it comes to business. He has a string of loan defaults, lawsuits and settlements. He’s a real business loser, just what the Republicans love.
396 chars
Mark P said on May 2, 2022 at 9:48 am
I forgot to mention his name: Herschel Walker, football player, serial liar and business failer.
96 chars
susan said on May 2, 2022 at 9:59 am
…a black man who was imported from Texas to run in Joejuh.
60 chars
Julie Robinson said on May 2, 2022 at 11:07 am
Oh yay, another abuser with zero political experience for Senate. Good God.
On a happier note, our son and his longtime gf got engaged yesterday. He cooked up a surprise, which I guess is required these days, with a group of friends. He asked everyone to video him practicing his solo for a concert, and in the middle segued to singing how he loved her, knelt and pulled out the ring, and sang will you marry me. She did the classic hands to the face in shock and surprise. It was very sweet and we’re thrilled for them.
And I should mention, everyone is now testing negative but still have some stamina issues along with random coughing and copious mucus. I had been feeling so smug about avoiding the plague too. All that staying home, mask wearing, not having people over; it still got us.
798 chars
LAMary said on May 2, 2022 at 11:14 am
Exactly my experience Julie. I was/am very careful and still the Omicron found me. The copious mucus part lasts a while.
120 chars
Deborah said on May 2, 2022 at 11:17 am
I’m still surprised we haven’t had Covid, me, my husband and LB. We’re cautious but a lot of people we know were cautious too and have gotten it. Maybe we had it with no symptoms, or when I had that one day of scratchy throat and runny nose could have been it I suppose, it was all gone the next day so I didn’t even give myself a test. LB had a cold and tested herself 3 times and all negative. It’s mysterious to me how we avoided it. We still mask in stores etc, not outside of course.
Off topic, Jeff tmmo might be interested in this: churches turning property into affordable rental housing https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-united-church-to-transform-its-properties/ in Canada (of course) where they do the right thing more than we seem to do in the US when it comes to helping people. This is not necessarily just the unused church buildings but surrounding land they own as well.
903 chars
Julie Robinson said on May 2, 2022 at 11:38 am
I never tested positive, even the day I was feeling the worst, but there was no doubt I had it since I had the exact same symptoms as everyone else. Not only that, my mom wasn’t given any meds at the ER. When our daughter asked the doc said they weren’t effective against this strain.
Our daughter’s church would love to build affordable tiny homes on their unused land. All they need is someone to infuse lots of cash.
423 chars
Scout said on May 2, 2022 at 12:37 pm
Jeff B @1: “Regardless of who wins the QOP Senate primary race, Ohio will send an unmitigated asshole to D.C”
So you don’t think Tim Ryan has a chance?
Apparently trumpster endorsed JD Mandel this weekend. https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1520900796946079744?s=20&t=Mqf01T0rz9pvJ9ZmtpqjCg
296 chars
Jeff Borden said on May 2, 2022 at 2:32 pm
Scout,
Ryan looks like an all right guy, but Ohio has rabies these days. Don’t think he stands a chance. Hope I am wrong.
122 chars
Mark P said on May 2, 2022 at 2:34 pm
I saw a Herschel Walker tv ad recently. It was full of his “successful businessman” lies. Raphael Warnock had some great ads when he ran against Perdue. I hope he can repeat that performance. Walker is ripe for skewering.
225 chars
Jeff Gill said on May 2, 2022 at 3:04 pm
I think Ryan has an excellent chance if Vance or Gibbons gets the nod, but he will need GOTV efforts to the nth degree. Ohio Dems are still reeling from their odd bargain with Larry Householder, and they do not have much organization that I run into beyond the metro areas. Allison Russo is making a go of it in Columbus; the two governor primary candidates are not making much of an impression . . . but with $62 gazillion dollars spent by the clown car full of GOP senate candidates, the media environment is a mess. I think I’m rooting for Whaley, but it’s too soon to tell.
By the way, someone talk to the Plumbers & Pipefitters, who don’t seem to understand how this works:
https://www.cleveland.com/news/2022/04/democrat-jennifer-brunner-outraises-republican-sharon-kennedy-for-ohio-supreme-court-chief-justice-in-latest-campaign-finance-reports.html
861 chars
jcburns said on May 2, 2022 at 3:46 pm
The important thing Jeff, is that GOP candidates are currently representing a non-party, a party that has delegitimized themselves, so PLEASE do not do anything to support any of their candidates.
As a country, we have to stand for non-treason, non-sedition.
And truth would be nice, too.
295 chars
Sherri said on May 2, 2022 at 5:28 pm
I don’t know what’s going on with the Plumbers and Pipefitters in Ohio, but in Washington state, the Plumbers and Pipefitters union is having some issues with Dems over clean energy. Inslee managed an end-around the legislature to get requirements for electricity instead of natural gas in future commercial and apartment buildings through the Building Code Council, and the Plumbers & Pipefitters aren’t happy.
https://washingtonobserver.substack.com/p/ban-on-gas-in-new-buildings-comes
But yes, what JC said. We can argue in the abstract about the particular merits and demerits of individual GOP candidates, but once elected, they serve a destructive party.
676 chars
Little Bird said on May 2, 2022 at 9:58 pm
The news about the SCOTUS ruling on abortion is not looking good. If the governor of NM can get re-elected, it’ll remain safe and legal here, but that’s a very big if. In other local news the fires continue to rampage and it’s bad enough that my eyes sting inside the condo. Apparently they had to ground all air support because some idiot flew their drone out over the fire yesterday. I would like the “interesting times” to stop being so damned interesting.
473 chars
Diane said on May 2, 2022 at 10:21 pm
Unfortunately abortion will not remain safe and legal in any state. Eroding Roe v. Wade paves the way for a national bill prohibiting abortion. The filibuster would prevent it and Biden would veto it but how long will a Democratic majority and presidency hold?
262 chars
susan said on May 2, 2022 at 10:48 pm
The Court has already written their opinion. “Someone” leaked the draft opinion. They won’t stop with abortion. Next up: birth control, sexual freedom, and gay marriage. All felony offenses.
310 chars
susan said on May 2, 2022 at 10:53 pm
Wonder if the Supremo hacks remember this? They are pushing all the buttons for something like that to happen.
These are scary, exhausting times to live.
260 chars
Deborah said on May 2, 2022 at 11:03 pm
I’m feeling tonight the way I did when Trump got elected in 2016. Very depressing.
84 chars
Mark P said on May 3, 2022 at 12:15 am
If the court allows abortion bans, I hope they do allow states to ban birth control, and I hope it’s done widely. Can you imagine what the 65% of women 15 to 49 who use birth control will do if they are suddenly facing unwanted pregnancies? Hell, something like three quarters of women 40 to 49 use birth control. It will be Lorena Bobbitt meets Lysistrata.
359 chars
jcburns said on May 3, 2022 at 12:38 am
I hear you Mark, but I don’t think that as a country we need to go through that as an exercise in generating political rage.
We’re not playing a ball game here. We have people we need to be there for and take care of during a very vulnerable time. I don’t think folding our arms and saying “well, wait until thousands suffer the effects of that” is a very good way of, I dunno, being a good human.
401 chars
David C said on May 3, 2022 at 6:23 am
I’d be willing to bet, not a lot but some, that the SC leak is a ruse. They’ll end up taking a huge bite out of Roe but not outright overturning it. Then they’ll say “See we didn’t overturn it, you libs were complaining over nothing”. Then next year after the elections they’ll finish it off.
292 chars
Mark P said on May 3, 2022 at 8:59 am
JC, my point was that when the wrong ox gets gored, enough people may change their minds on these issues that change could happen. I’m not sure I see how this country, at this time, is going to be able to make the changes we need. I also don’t see how being a realist makes me something less than a “good human.”
320 chars
Jeff Borden said on May 3, 2022 at 9:47 am
No surprise to see the author of the memo was “Strip Search Sammy” Alito. He’s a true bastard, though Gorsuch gives him a run for the money.
In our last class, I begged my students to stay informed and vote, vote, vote. The women –all born almost 30 years post-Roe– have never lived in a time when they didn’t have reproductive freedom. Now, it’s highly likely they will. Will this energize American women to rise up? I hope so.
433 chars
Deborah said on May 3, 2022 at 9:53 am
Can you believe it’s the 21st century and this is happening in the USA? After the last 6 years it’s been obvious and I knew after Barrett got the nomination it was a matter of time. I’m quite glad I statistically only have a couple more decades left to live, what with global warming and the dissolution of rights it’s going to be bleak. I hope I’m wrong, that we can turn the boat around but the way I feel now is very pessimistic.
432 chars
Jeff Borden said on May 3, 2022 at 10:23 am
So, the “political party” that decries activist courts and embraces individual freedoms spurns both by creating a radically hard right Supreme Court dedicated to the establishment of a white nationalist Christian nation.
Do I need to point out how many of those hacks in black robes were put on the court by “presidents” who hadn’t won the popular election? The fucking Electoral College needs to be eliminated. It is the source of so many of our problems.
459 chars
jcburns said on May 3, 2022 at 10:25 am
Mark, I wasn’t trying to paint you as not a good human…I was just saying that this issue is way beyond “oxes getting gored” and sitting back to see how larger affected groups of people react.
This is the health, mental health, and well-being of more than half of all Americans. We need to help any way we can.
314 chars
Mark P said on May 3, 2022 at 11:15 am
I thought the NN community could figure out what I was trying to say, but apparently even my attempt at broad humor was too subtle. The actual point is that it really does depend on whose ox is getting gored. Antiabortionists oppose any attempt to prevent a pregnancy from going full term because they believe that pregnancy is god’s punishment for a woman who has sex (with anyone but them — the male antiabortionists — in their case, the more the merrier). But if the American Taliban really goes all in and prohibits contraceptives, they are going to face the wrath of their wives, mistresses, and prostitutes. I figured everyone would know the Bobbitt and Lysistrata references (note that Lysistrata is an actual comedy), but I guess I should learn my lesson about hyperbole as well as subtlety. Neither works well on the internet.
842 chars
Joe Kobiela said on May 3, 2022 at 11:30 am
I don’t suppose with the Democratic Party looking down the barrel of a complete wipeout in the coming midterms the possibility of of a “leaked” memo on Roe vs Wade could possibly be a ruse to change the current narrative away from record inflation, out of control crime, and the exploding border debacle, led by the most inept political party ever to set foot in the White House ?
Sorry but stop and think, why would the republicans throw this out there now? All it does is take the emphasis off how totally ineffective pResident Depends and his administration have been.
I think it’s a last gasp by the Dems to try and save themselves come November.
Pilot Joe
671 chars
Suzanne said on May 3, 2022 at 11:53 am
Interesting Twitter thread on SCOTUS leak
https://twitter.com/akapczynski/status/1521494553877962754?s=21&t=mrO_lWvq5hKG0viSNgG39w
137 chars
Jeff Borden said on May 3, 2022 at 11:55 am
Gosh, Joe, that is an amazing description of the QOP and the orange-hued baboon who leads it. As someone whose prostate cancer surgery sometimes causes leaks and sometimes leads me to wear a pad –yeah I guess in your book I’m Jeff Depends– may I suggest you find a nice broom handle and shove it up your ass until it comes out your noise. You are usually irritating and smug, but today you’re nothing but a full-throated, full-fledged asshole. And, as such, the perfect avatar of the white nationalist christian party. Enjoy yourself, asshole.
545 chars
Joe Kobiela said on May 3, 2022 at 12:10 pm
Why bless your heart Jeff, your right I shouldn’t have poked fun at sleepy Joe.
Of course you have never said anything degrading about any republicans.
Pilot Joe
166 chars
Sherri said on May 3, 2022 at 12:11 pm
Overturning Roe has been inevitable since Trump was elected. The only way to stop it was for the Dems to grow a spine and add members to SCOTUS, and they weren’t even willing to pass voting right legislation, much less do that.
Brett Kavanaugh is the center vote on SCOTUS. The Dems refusal to do anything about that is ridiculous. It’s not a question of partisanship, it’s destructive to democracy. SCOTUS is representative of a minority of the country.
463 chars
alex said on May 3, 2022 at 12:17 pm
Wonder where Joe copied and pasted that one from. The vocabulary alone gives it away, not to mention the good grammar, spelling and punctuation. I will concede, though, that it was written by someone dumb enough not to know the diff between a memo and a draft, or that the leak had to have come from within the court. Probably just some Republican.
348 chars
susan said on May 3, 2022 at 12:23 pm
When will folks learn to ignore trolls? Just grit your teeth, sit on your typing hands, and let it blow by.
107 chars
Sherri said on May 3, 2022 at 12:27 pm
Given that a leak has never happened before at SCOTUS, it would seem much more likely to me that a clerk from Alito/Thomas/Gorsuch would have more incentive to leak. Why? We know that Roberts doesn’t like to overturn precedent like this, he prefers to quietly gut it from the inside. Opinions get written on both side, negotiations happen as both side try to get to five votes. Roberts likely has been trying to find some compromise that he could get the liberals plus Kavanaugh to sign onto, a slim possibility but there is zero possibility to get Alito/Thomas/Gorsuch to sign onto anything but the scorched earth option.
So who does the leak serve? It makes it harder for Roberts to find any votes from the conservative side for compromise, or to be able to negotiate any moderating language changes in the scorched earth opinion. Roberts has already incurred the wrath of conservatives for allowing Obamacare to stand; Kavanaugh isn’t going to stand against the mob that now has this Alito opinion in hand.
1017 chars
Sherri said on May 3, 2022 at 12:52 pm
I said in 2020, when Biden won, that we had a two year window to save democracy, but that I wasn’t optimistic that the Dems would rise to the challenge. The biggest obstacles were Manchin and Sinema, of course, but aging Dem leaders didn’t show the boldness needed. Too much McClellan, not enough Grant, to use a Civil War analogy.
Those two years end in November. I don’t know how this will all play out, but I don’t see apartheid rule being a stable situation.
473 chars
Jim said on May 3, 2022 at 12:55 pm
My vote is that it was leaked by Ginni Thomas.
46 chars
Icarus said on May 3, 2022 at 1:00 pm
Man, This season of the Handmaid’s Tale sucks.
46 chars
Sherri said on May 3, 2022 at 1:01 pm
Roberts would want to uphold Dobbs, the Mississippi abortion case in question, in such a way that Roe would be effectively gutted but the wider issues would not be addressed. Alito wants to burn the whole house down: Roe, Griswold, Lawrence v. Texas, Obergfell.
If it were up to Alito, he’d happily stone gays in the public square.
337 chars
Mark P said on May 3, 2022 at 1:03 pm
Sherri, my own personal belief is that the country as it now stands is doomed. I think historians of a few hundred years hence will draw a straight line from the adoption of the Constitution to the end of the country. They will say our Constitution made our end inevitable. The US clearly needs a reset, and I don’t see it happening. Maybe I’m wrong. I hope so.
365 chars
Deborah said on May 3, 2022 at 1:14 pm
I’m wondering if it was Ginni.
30 chars
Joe Kobiela said on May 3, 2022 at 1:23 pm
Sorry Alex just myself typing away.
Pilot Joe
46 chars
Scout said on May 3, 2022 at 2:02 pm
We all know trolls do not have one original thought in their brainwashed heads and that pretty much everything they type is cut and pasted. And the projection… it’s ALWAYS projection with them. Back to ignoring.
213 chars
alex said on May 3, 2022 at 2:03 pm
Bullshit. The text flow also gives it away as a paste job.
58 chars
Heather said on May 3, 2022 at 2:40 pm
Crime is still down overall compared to decades past, and just a reminder that gas companies are making record profits and the governor of Texas was caught intentionally disrupting the supply chain of food deliveries coming from Mexico border to increase prices and help Rs win in the midterms. Insert shrug emoji here.
319 chars
Little Bird said on May 3, 2022 at 2:46 pm
https://www.nbcnews.com/data-graphics/map-23-states-ban-abortion-post-roe-america-rcna27081?cid=sm_npd_nn_fb_ma&fbclid=IwAR2gKx06SX4wc70BNDFuJMokBgj5_U7i9ed3_gfPLJrL0CrPHgOt298N6yg
This is just plain disturbing.
216 chars
Jason T. said on May 3, 2022 at 3:23 pm
Mmm, pie filter. I like pie.
96 chars
Deborah said on May 3, 2022 at 3:55 pm
Also “debacle” as if.
21 chars
Dave said on May 3, 2022 at 4:54 pm
Saying anything degrading about Repugnant ones is easy, they do it to themselves all the time. Of course, their supporters don’t see it that way.
146 chars
alex said on May 3, 2022 at 5:14 pm
The mainstream media need to quit pretending that the GOP is a political party and not the neo-fascist movement it has become.
126 chars
Jeff Borden said on May 3, 2022 at 5:32 pm
I apologize for calling our resident pilot an asshole earlier today. Someone who deals with cancer surgery related incontinence generally isn’t amused by someone labeling a president they hate as President Depends.
That said, I don’t understand the aviator’s complaining when his party has successfully sabotaged so many aspects of American life and now has a bought and paid for SCOTUS to enforce its awful policies. Shouldn’t he be cracking the bubble?
Soon, no right to abortion. Soon, no recognition of gay rights. Soon, no right to privacy. Soon, no access to contraceptives. Soon, no affirmative action. Soon, no challenges to our corporate overlords.
Your world view is arriving for us all, Joe. Enjoy it.
722 chars
Peter said on May 3, 2022 at 7:34 pm
I hadn’t given thought if Mrs. Clarence Thomas was the leaker, although it would make sense, and I hadn’t thought that the leak was done to get the left to wail and gnash their teeth, only to later issue a watered down opinion to own them. No, I thought that the leak was done so the Faithful could make sure their ordained justices will not back out.
While I’m afraid this is the tip of the iceberg and by 2023 we’ll be having the annual NN.com get togethers at my new home in Ontario, I think this might motivate the base like it did in 2018. And as for this motivating pro-life people to vote? They already are voting – there’s no hidden numbers there.
661 chars
Peter said on May 3, 2022 at 7:37 pm
Jeff at #56 – it reminds me of a meeting early in my career – it eventually got pretty ugly, and my boss called the contractor a fat, stupid asshole. The contractor demanded an apology. and my boss agreed “On second thought, you’re not that fat”.
248 chars
Jeff Borden said on May 3, 2022 at 7:41 pm
Your boss was a badass.
23 chars