hotair--2020-09-29--Report: Trump campaign wants Biden's ears checked for earpieces before debate

Until someone reminded me a few days ago , I had forgotten that he made the same “ doping for the debates ” accusation against Hillary Clinton that he ’ s been making against Biden this month .
October 15 , 2016 : The idea of making Hillary take a drug test wasn ’ t driven by suspicions of dementia , it was part of the theory that she had some unknown malady that kept making her cough in public and once nearly made her faint .
But this is what I meant in the last post about well-to-do suburbanites @ @ @ @ @ @ @ leaning Biden this year .
At some point , they ’ ve just had enough .
They ’ ve put up with cringy nonsense of all stripes from him for four years .
He won ’ t stop .
And he wouldn ’ t stop even if someone finally convinced him that whining about drug tests and earpieces does him more harm than it does Biden by reminding everyone that his behavior is consistently beneath the dignity of the office .
I don ’ t think he accuses his opponents of doping as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thinks it ’ ll win him votes .
I think he does it as a coping mechanism , because he can ’ t tolerate psychologically the idea of someone beating him in a fair fight .
That ’ s the common thread between tonight ’ s debate and the endless attempts by Trump to undermine the public ’ s faith in the integrity of the election .
In both cases , it ’ s unbearable for him to have anyone believe that he lost legitimately .
If he fails , he must have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ so sure he ’ s even trying to convince his fans with this barrage of accusations against Biden .
He might be trying to convince himself .
President Trump is asking for an additional ground rule ahead of Tuesday night ’ s first presidential debate between himself and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden .
Fox News has learned that the president ’ s re-election campaign wants the Biden campaign to allow a third party to inspect the ears of each debater for electronic devices or transmitters .
The president has consented to this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not , so far , sources said .
Over the last several weeks , the former vice president ’ s campaign has also requested two breaks — one every 30 minutes — to break up the 90-minute commercial-free program .
But that request has been denied by their Trump counterparts , Fox News is told .
A Trump campaign source told Fox News that “ our guy doesn ’ t need breaks .
He gives 90-minute speeches all the time.
” The “ presidential ” way to have raised expectations for Biden ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ back-burner the dementia claims a month or two ago and start drumming that Biden ’ s actually an old pro and seasoned debater who ’ s been through the political wars .
Why , he ’ s a heavy favorite to win tonight !
And in fairness to Team Trump , some members of the campaign did try that approach .
Bill Stepien ’ s made that point repeatedly .
The Trump way to raise expectations for Biden , though , is naturally to level outlandish allegations of cheating just in case he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ some mystery drug that makes a dementia patient suddenly sharp for 90 minutes , or that he has an earpiece in so that advisors can feed him the answers .
He can ’ t let go of the claim that Biden is addled so he ’ s found a means of raising expectations that somehow incorporates it : You ’ ve probably known people with dementia in your own life .
If you gave them an earpiece , how convincingly do you think they could relay things you ’ re saying to them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their own words ?
Convincingly enough to do it for 90 minutes , with 90 million people watching unable to tell ?
Again , though , the point of accusing Biden of being on drugs isn ’ t to convince voters outside Trump ’ s base , whom you might think would be his top concern right now .
It ’ s to help MAGA Nation and maybe the president himself cope in the aftermath if Biden performs well .
The idea that the Democrat is unfit for office ( or more unfit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Is Trump himself going to accuse Biden during the debate of being on drugs ?
Normally that ’ s the sort of low-rent attack that a president would leave to a surrogate like Rudy , but we ’ re past that point now .
Here ’ s Bret Baier sounding interested in the earpiece theory .
It ’ ll be fascinating to see how much Fox ’ s news side goes all-in on the “ Biden cheated ” theories .
As for why Team Joe is refusing to accede to the request @ @ @ @ @ @ @ take your pick .
Either ( a ) someone really will be feeding him answers through his ear and it somehow won ’ t be patently obvious in his responses , ( b ) Biden ’ s whole campaign theme is about restoring normalcy and dignity to the presidency and he ’ s making a show of that here by denying Trump ’ s request , or ( c ) Team Biden knows that most of the public is sick of listening to Trump impugn people wildly and is happy to give him @ @ @ @ @ @ @ That ’ s been the strategy since day one — stay out of the spotlight , let Trump talk his way out of the presidency by alienating voters day after day .
If the president spends the next few days focused on what Biden had in his ear instead of talking about America ’ s economic recovery , that ’ s a few days closer to winning for Democrats .

Until someone reminded me a few days ago, I had forgotten that he made the same “doping for the debates” accusation against Hillary Clinton that he’s been making against Biden this month. October 15, 2016:
The idea of making Hillary take a drug test wasn’t driven by suspicions of dementia, it was part of the theory that she had some unknown malady that kept making her cough in public and once nearly made her faint. But this is what I meant in the last post about well-to-do suburbanites who prefer Trump on bottom-line issues nonetheless leaning Biden this year. At some point, they’ve just had enough. They’ve put up with cringy nonsense of all stripes from him for four years. He won’t stop.
And he wouldn’t stop even if someone finally convinced him that whining about drug tests and earpieces does him more harm than it does Biden by reminding everyone that his behavior is consistently beneath the dignity of the office. I don’t think he accuses his opponents of doping as a “strategy,” because he thinks it’ll win him votes. I think he does it as a coping mechanism, because he can’t tolerate psychologically the idea of someone beating him in a fair fight. That’s the common thread between tonight’s debate and the endless attempts by Trump to undermine the public’s faith in the integrity of the election. In both cases, it’s unbearable for him to have anyone believe that he lost legitimately. If he fails, he must have been cheated. I’m not so sure he’s even trying to convince his fans with this barrage of accusations against Biden. He might be trying to convince himself.
President Trump is asking for an additional ground rule ahead of Tuesday night’s first presidential debate between himself and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. Fox News has learned that the president’s re-election campaign wants the Biden campaign to allow a third party to inspect the ears of each debater for electronic devices or transmitters. The president has consented to this kind of inspection, but Biden has not, so far, sources said. Over the last several weeks, the former vice president’s campaign has also requested two breaks — one every 30 minutes — to break up the 90-minute commercial-free program. But that request has been denied by their Trump counterparts, Fox News is told. A Trump campaign source told Fox News that “our guy doesn’t need breaks. He gives 90-minute speeches all the time.”
The “presidential” way to have raised expectations for Biden’s performance tonight would have been to back-burner the dementia claims a month or two ago and start drumming that Biden’s actually an old pro and seasoned debater who’s been through the political wars. Why, he’s a heavy favorite to win tonight! And in fairness to Team Trump, some members of the campaign did try that approach. Bill Stepien’s made that point repeatedly. The Trump way to raise expectations for Biden, though, is naturally to level outlandish allegations of cheating just in case he overperforms — that he’s on some mystery drug that makes a dementia patient suddenly sharp for 90 minutes, or that he has an earpiece in so that advisors can feed him the answers. He can’t let go of the claim that Biden is addled so he’s found a means of raising expectations that somehow incorporates it:
“This guy doesn’t have a clue. He doesn’t know where the hell he is,” Trump told his supporters in Pittsburgh a week to the day before the first debate. “This guy doesn’t know he’s alive.”… It’s a line of attack the president has repeatedly used against Biden, and one some of his top advisers have urged him to tone down in the lead-up to the debates, while his campaign and allies mount a last-minute attempt to raise exceptions for Biden’s performance.
You’ve probably known people with dementia in your own life. If you gave them an earpiece, how convincingly do you think they could relay things you’re saying to them in their ear as if it were their own words? Convincingly enough to do it for 90 minutes, with 90 million people watching unable to tell?
Again, though, the point of accusing Biden of being on drugs isn’t to convince voters outside Trump’s base, whom you might think would be his top concern right now. It’s to help MAGA Nation and maybe the president himself cope in the aftermath if Biden performs well. The idea that the Democrat is unfit for office (or more unfit than Trump is) must be preserved.
On Fox & Friends, Rudy Giuliani says Joe Biden "has dementia. There's no doubt about it. I've talked to doctors. … The president's quite right to say maybe he's taken adderall." The hosts get visibly uncomfortable. pic.twitter.com/2Ma7DKNBpS — Bobby Lewis (@revrrlewis) September 29, 2020
Is Trump himself going to accuse Biden during the debate of being on drugs? Normally that’s the sort of low-rent attack that a president would leave to a surrogate like Rudy, but we’re past that point now.
Here’s Bret Baier sounding interested in the earpiece theory. It’ll be fascinating to see how much Fox’s news side goes all-in on the “Biden cheated” theories. As for why Team Joe is refusing to accede to the request for an earpiece inspection, you can take your pick. Either (a) someone really will be feeding him answers through his ear and it somehow won’t be patently obvious in his responses, (b) Biden’s whole campaign theme is about restoring normalcy and dignity to the presidency and he’s making a show of that here by denying Trump’s request, or (c) Team Biden knows that most of the public is sick of listening to Trump impugn people wildly and is happy to give him a pretext to keep doing it. That’s been the strategy since day one — stay out of the spotlight, let Trump talk his way out of the presidency by alienating voters day after day. If the president spends the next few days focused on what Biden had in his ear instead of talking about America’s economic recovery, that’s a few days closer to winning for Democrats.


hotair--2020-09-29--Whose streets? Portland police try new tactics, 24 arrested

Police in Portland have had lots of time to work out new strategies to deal with protests/riots .
Last month they often seemed to remain out-of-sight during marches , at least until something was set on fire and a riot was declared .
That didn ’ t seem to work to de-escalate things .
On the contrary , it just gave the rioters a free hand up to the point of arson .
Last night , police apparently tried the opposite tactic , i.e .
breaking up a march before it even started .
For a brief moment , it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ swept through the park , confiscating homemade shields and other articles .
A scuffle broke out when officers tried to confiscate a picket sign that read “ vote , ” multiple videos from the scene showed , and at least one person was detained .
Police also deployed pepper spray .
Officers also filtered through the crowd , shining flashlights at people ’ s faces .
A journalist for The Oregonian/OregonLive heard one officer say they were looking for a particular person .
The new tactic clearly caught the protesters off guard , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at least for a time — the planned march to a nearby police union office .
The early disruption and arrests really pissed off the Antifa/BLM folks who compared them to the Klan and called them “ a tool of the rich.
” Also around this time a person driving a “ medic ” vehicle was stopped and found to have a loaded gun in the car .
The driver had no insurance and was arrested .
The new tactics seemed to throw the mob at first but soon enough they reformed and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Association building which has been set on fire and vandalized many times at this point .
At the PPA , police once again tried out some new tactics .
Instead of giving the group control of the streets , police warned that the sidewalk in front of the building was off limits .
They also told the group that they would be arrested if they blocked the road .
Some protesters decided to test this new approach and wandered into the road .
With the sidewalk and the road off limits , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Some of the crowd made their way to the parking lot of a 7-11 nearby .
Police continued to make arrests and Antifa tried to “ de-arrest ” several people , meaning they tried to wrestle with police to prevent the arrests .
These efforts mostly failed which only made the group more angry .
At some point in the night a police officer had a baseball bat thrown at him by a fleeing suspect and a police sergeant was punched in the face and had to be taken to the hospital .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ bear mace at police : In all , at least 24 people were arrested , most for disorderly conduct and interfering with an officer .
While the new tactics seem to have worked pretty well last night , i.e .
no fires were set at the PPA building , that ’ s not the end of it .
Progressive DA Mike Schmidt will drop charges against all of these people and they will be back on the street tonight as if nothing happened .
Finally , there was one interesting exchange last night @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the side of the protesters/rioters and a couple of officers .
Asked what could be done so that police didn ’ t have to be out in the streets every night , one cop replied , “ If they were not out here , we wouldn ’ t be out here.
” He added , “ If people like our Trump government a lot more , we probably wouldn ’ t have this issue in the first place .
There ’ s a lot of contention with the federal government.
” He ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other words , he ’ s saying people are angry about Trump and that ’ s a big reason this is happening .
A second officer added to that , “ We know it ’ s going to run all the way , at least to the election .
This could run all the way to inauguration.
” “ Well it could run all the way until cops stop killing black people , ” the homeowner said .
It ’ s a snappy answer but I think the cops are probably right in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ old enough to remember the last year of the Bush administration , you ’ ve seen this before .
In 2007 the anti-war movement was huge .
There were protests with tens of thousands of people in multiple cities .
And then Obama won the election and the anti-war movement just vanished overnight .
“ It ’ s a far cry from the Bush years , when hundreds of thousands or millions marched against the war , ” David Boaz , executive vice president of the libertarian Cato Institute , writes on the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ question : Whatever happened to the anti-war movement ?
In the post , he points out that American protests against wars seemed to stop the moment Barack Obama was elected president in 2008 .
“ Maybe anti-war organizers assumed that they had elected the man who would stop the war , ” he observes… He concludes that the anti-war activity in the United States — and around the world — a few years ago “ was driven as much by antipathy to George W. Bush as by actual opposition to war and intervention.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ but I think protests/riots in most places will tone down significantly if Biden wins the election and , conversely , protests will likely ramp up and become more violent if Trump wins because what ’ s driving this is national politics .
The top clip here is just a longer version of the bottom one .

Police in Portland have had lots of time to work out new strategies to deal with protests/riots. Last month they often seemed to remain out-of-sight during marches, at least until something was set on fire and a riot was declared. That didn’t seem to work to de-escalate things. On the contrary, it just gave the rioters a free hand up to the point of arson. Last night, police apparently tried the opposite tactic, i.e. breaking up a march before it even started. For a brief moment, it seemed to work.
The armored officers swept through the park, confiscating homemade shields and other articles. A scuffle broke out when officers tried to confiscate a picket sign that read “vote,” multiple videos from the scene showed, and at least one person was detained. Police also deployed pepper spray. Officers also filtered through the crowd, shining flashlights at people’s faces. A journalist for The Oregonian/OregonLive heard one officer say they were looking for a particular person. The new tactic clearly caught the protesters off guard, temporarily splintering the crowd and delaying — at least for a time — the planned march to a nearby police union office.
The early disruption and arrests really pissed off the Antifa/BLM folks who compared them to the Klan and called them “a tool of the rich.”
I’d say well over 2 dozen cops & several police vehicles both surrounded & descended on the park in a surprise attack basically. Crowd is riled up now, a brief chant, “whose streets, our streets” pic.twitter.com/yqxb8azbe9 — Beth Nakamura (@bethnakamura) September 29, 2020
Also around this time a person driving a “medic” vehicle was stopped and found to have a loaded gun in the car. The driver had no insurance and was arrested.
The new tactics seemed to throw the mob at first but soon enough they reformed and made their way to the Portland Police Association building which has been set on fire and vandalized many times at this point. At the PPA, police once again tried out some new tactics. Instead of giving the group control of the streets, police warned that the sidewalk in front of the building was off limits. They also told the group that they would be arrested if they blocked the road. Some protesters decided to test this new approach and wandered into the road.
Police walk through the crowd, pushing protesters and press, they drop smoke, no unlawful assembly declared pic.twitter.com/8izbX28JVq — Sergio Olmos (@MrOlmos) September 29, 2020
With the sidewalk and the road off limits, the would-be rioters much space to operate.
Some of the crowd made their way to the parking lot of a 7-11 nearby. Police continued to make arrests and Antifa tried to “de-arrest” several people, meaning they tried to wrestle with police to prevent the arrests. These efforts mostly failed which only made the group more angry.
Police are making more arrests of rioters near the Portland Police union hall. Antifa are extremely angry many of their comrades were taken. #PortlandRiots #antifa pic.twitter.com/GqcjhKkmCT — Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) September 29, 2020
Portland: Woman at the riot threatens to defecate at a cop’s front door if her car was scratched during an arrest. #PortlandRiots #antifa pic.twitter.com/cVZAoDcm1S — Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) September 29, 2020
At some point in the night a police officer had a baseball bat thrown at him by a fleeing suspect and a police sergeant was punched in the face and had to be taken to the hospital. One of the Antifa goons also fired bear mace at police:
A rioter bear maces Portland Police close up at a violent protest in north Portland tonight. #PortlandRiots #antifa https://t.co/pNhyYxGzoa — Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) September 29, 2020
In all, at least 24 people were arrested, most for disorderly conduct and interfering with an officer. While the new tactics seem to have worked pretty well last night, i.e. no fires were set at the PPA building, that’s not the end of it. Progressive DA Mike Schmidt will drop charges against all of these people and they will be back on the street tonight as if nothing happened.
Finally, there was one interesting exchange last night between a homeowner who clearly was on the side of the protesters/rioters and a couple of officers. Asked what could be done so that police didn’t have to be out in the streets every night, one cop replied, “If they were not out here, we wouldn’t be out here.” He added, “If people like our Trump government a lot more, we probably wouldn’t have this issue in the first place. There’s a lot of contention with the federal government.”
He’s being descriptive not prescriptive. In other words, he’s saying people are angry about Trump and that’s a big reason this is happening.
A second officer added to that, “We know it’s going to run all the way, at least to the election. This could run all the way to inauguration.”
“Well it could run all the way until cops stop killing black people,” the homeowner said. It’s a snappy answer but I think the cops are probably right in this case.
If you’re old enough to remember the last year of the Bush administration, you’ve seen this before. In 2007 the anti-war movement was huge. There were protests with tens of thousands of people in multiple cities. And then Obama won the election and the anti-war movement just vanished overnight.
“It’s a far cry from the Bush years, when hundreds of thousands or millions marched against the war,” David Boaz, executive vice president of the libertarian Cato Institute, writes on the Britannica website. He asks the same question: Whatever happened to the anti-war movement? In the post, he points out that American protests against wars seemed to stop the moment Barack Obama was elected president in 2008. “Maybe anti-war organizers assumed that they had elected the man who would stop the war,” he observes… He concludes that the anti-war activity in the United States — and around the world — a few years ago “was driven as much by antipathy to George W. Bush as by actual opposition to war and intervention.”
Portland may be a special case but I think protests/riots in most places will tone down significantly if Biden wins the election and, conversely, protests will likely ramp up and become more violent if Trump wins because what’s driving this is national politics. The top clip here is just a longer version of the bottom one.


hotair--2020-09-29--In Louisville, Blackmail Lives Matter

In Louisville, Blackmail Lives Matter

The streets of Louisville , Kentucky continue to boil over in the wake of the grand jury ’ s decision not to file charges against any of the police officers involved in the shooting that ended in Breonna Taylor ’ s death .
( One officer is being charged with reckless conduct for firing shots into neighboring apartments . )
Despite the fact that a judge has ordered the transcripts of the jury hearing to be made public , it doesn ’ t sound like much is going to change .
But the more we learn about the ongoing protests @ @ @ @ @ @ @ course of the summer , the more dismal the situation sounds .
We only recently found out that supposed racial justice advocates have been shaking down local businesses and making illegal demands of them in a sort of woke blackmail scheme .
Those who refuse to comply have been met with threats and worse , including arson in at least one case .
( Courrier-Journal ) Several protesters confronted a local restaurant operator outside his establishment Thursday after he publicly denounced a list of demands that activists have issued to dozens of businesses @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in downtown Louisville .
The protesters say business owners in the area have benefited from years of gentrification following the demolition of a public housing complex that displaced many Black families .
And they put forth the demands during a demonstration last week , calling on the owners to employ more Black people , purchase more inventory from Black retailers and undergo diversity training .
Some owners have embraced the requests , saying they recognize the area ’ s history and want to make their businesses more inclusive .
But others , including @ @ @ @ @ @ @ issue with how the demands were presented .
Martinez dubbed them “ mafia tactics ” used to intimidate .
This goes far beyond any sort of “ activism ” or protest .
What ’ s going on in Louisville is flatly illegal .
Private citizens do not get to make mandatory policies for licensed businesses .
If the businesses are in compliance with all applicable laws in terms of hiring and operating their facilities and the protesters don ’ t like it , they need to take it up with their legislators and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the public agrees with them .
Further , some of the demands being made are farcical .
Business owners are being told that they need to “ acknowledge their complicity ” in the harm done to the Black community when a low-income housing project was demolished decades ago and the area was opened up to commercial development .
The business owners didn ’ t demolish those buildings .
They invested in the community and created jobs .
And now they ’ re being threatened with a bad score in “ social justice @ @ @ @ @ @ @ being published online .
What that translates into is a threat to unleash the mob on them unless they comply .
And it ’ s not just a threat .
It ’ s already happening .
As the New York Post recently reported , one owner of a local shop named Fadi Faouri has had to live inside his business property for months .
And a new property he purchased to move his shop to was burned down last week .
“ Stuff is being damaged on a nightly basis , people are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” said Faouri , who ’ s had the shop for eight years .
“ Every night we have a new store that got looted .
They break in , they take whatever and go .
They walk away.
” Business is so bad right now because of the protests , Faouri planned to move his shop a few blocks away starting Monday .
The new location was torched Thursday night .
Faouri , himself an immigrant from Jordan , doesn ’ t feel he is in need of any diversity training and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the words of others under threats .
Since no companies are offering insurance to businesses in Louisville during this crisis , he ’ s stuck paying for the losses at his new location himself .
Denny Burk recently asked the pertinent question on this subject on Twitter .
Why isn ’ t this guy ’ s story a national headline already ?
This is blackmail and thuggery , plain and simple .
And it ’ s being conducted in broad daylight .
But the cops are so busy trying to stop the city @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t have much time to go after blackmail threats , so these mafia tactics are likely to continue for the foreseeable future .

The streets of Louisville, Kentucky continue to boil over in the wake of the grand jury’s decision not to file charges against any of the police officers involved in the shooting that ended in Breonna Taylor’s death. (One officer is being charged with reckless conduct for firing shots into neighboring apartments.) Despite the fact that a judge has ordered the transcripts of the jury hearing to be made public, it doesn’t sound like much is going to change. But the more we learn about the ongoing protests that have absorbed the city over the course of the summer, the more dismal the situation sounds. We only recently found out that supposed racial justice advocates have been shaking down local businesses and making illegal demands of them in a sort of woke blackmail scheme. Those who refuse to comply have been met with threats and worse, including arson in at least one case. (Courrier-Journal)
Several protesters confronted a local restaurant operator outside his establishment Thursday after he publicly denounced a list of demands that activists have issued to dozens of businesses in NuLu, a small commercial district in downtown Louisville. The protesters say business owners in the area have benefited from years of gentrification following the demolition of a public housing complex that displaced many Black families. And they put forth the demands during a demonstration last week, calling on the owners to employ more Black people, purchase more inventory from Black retailers and undergo diversity training. Some owners have embraced the requests, saying they recognize the area’s history and want to make their businesses more inclusive. But others, including restaurateur Fernando Martinez, say they take issue with how the demands were presented. Martinez dubbed them “mafia tactics” used to intimidate.
This goes far beyond any sort of “activism” or protest. What’s going on in Louisville is flatly illegal. Private citizens do not get to make mandatory policies for licensed businesses. If the businesses are in compliance with all applicable laws in terms of hiring and operating their facilities and the protesters don’t like it, they need to take it up with their legislators and have those standards changed if the majority of the public agrees with them.
Further, some of the demands being made are farcical. Business owners are being told that they need to “acknowledge their complicity” in the harm done to the Black community when a low-income housing project was demolished decades ago and the area was opened up to commercial development. The business owners didn’t demolish those buildings. They invested in the community and created jobs. And now they’re being threatened with a bad score in “social justice health and wellness ratings” that are being published online. What that translates into is a threat to unleash the mob on them unless they comply.
And it’s not just a threat. It’s already happening. As the New York Post recently reported, one owner of a local shop named Fadi Faouri has had to live inside his business property for months. And a new property he purchased to move his shop to was burned down last week.
“Stuff is being damaged on a nightly basis, people are shooting at each other every night,” said Faouri, who’s had the shop for eight years. “Every night we have a new store that got looted. They break in, they take whatever and go. They walk away.” Business is so bad right now because of the protests, Faouri planned to move his shop a few blocks away starting Monday. The new location was torched Thursday night.
Faouri, himself an immigrant from Jordan, doesn’t feel he is in need of any diversity training and won’t be forced to mouth the words of others under threats. Since no companies are offering insurance to businesses in Louisville during this crisis, he’s stuck paying for the losses at his new location himself. Denny Burk recently asked the pertinent question on this subject on Twitter. Why isn’t this guy’s story a national headline already?
It’s worse than this. The activists have been shaking down business owners almost all summer, creating a social justice rating system and threatening those who don’t comply. https://t.co/z1Eh1yl6fs — Denny Burk (@DennyBurk) September 29, 2020
This is blackmail and thuggery, plain and simple. And it’s being conducted in broad daylight. But the cops are so busy trying to stop the city from burning down, they probably don’t have much time to go after blackmail threats, so these mafia tactics are likely to continue for the foreseeable future.


hotair--2020-09-29--Minneapolis police: Vote fraud caught by Project Veritas "being evaluated"

Well , well , well … perhaps all isn ’ t entirely lost in the Twin Cities after all .
Yesterday morning , Project Veritas released an exposé of potentially large-scale ballot-harvesting fraud in Minneapolis ’ Somali community , complete with social-media video bragging about it .
“ It ’ s an open secret , ” Ramsey County Sheriff deputy Omar Jamal told James O ’ Keefe , even though no one in Minneapolis or Hennepin County seemed interested in stopping it .
Until yesterday evening , that is .
The Minneapolis Police Department issued a statement declaring that the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” which is at least an improvement over “ being ignored ” : Speaking of being ignored , the local media seems to have snapped out of it .
The Star Tribune actually covered it , although they turned it into a “ Trump and GOP pounce ” piece : President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers in Minnesota called for an investigation Monday into a conservative activist group ’ s allegations of illegal mail-in ballot “ harvesting ” in a special Minneapolis City Council election this summer .
A spokesman for the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the process of looking into the validity ” of the group ’ s statements .
Meanwhile the Hennepin County Attorney ’ s Office said it was made aware of the allegations in the media but had received no information or cases involving so-called ballot harvesting in any elections held this year .
With just five weeks until the Nov. 3 election , Republicans seized on the mail-in fraud allegations in the city ’ s August primary to question the security of the no-excuse absentee voting system for the general election , which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , brought by the conservative activist group Project Veritas , come as Trump and his GOP allies have intensified their criticism of mail-in voting , which has grown in popularity across the nation in response to the COVID-19 pandemic .
Election experts say there has been no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the U.S. , although Trump has used the issue to already cast doubt on the results of the presidential election .
No evidence of widespread voter fraud ?
Maybe , but that ’ s a term that is pretty elastic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ however , the bragging caught on tape of the scale of illegal ballot harvesting looks large enough .
If that doesn ’ t convince people , then perhaps the new undercover video from Project Veritas will .
It features an actual cash payment for ballots : In part two of an explosive exposé , a Minnesota-based source tells Project Veritas that the mastermind behind the rampant voter fraud scheme is Rep. Ilhan Omar ( D-Minn. ) herself and her extensive political machine .
… A Minneapolis ballot harvester was recorded with a hidden @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the voters vote correctly by walking into the booth with the voter .
“ They help us at the voting booth .
They allow them to help us , ” the ballot harvester said .
“ They go inside with us and help us , and they actually do that inside there.
” The ballot harvester said there is no confusion .
The operatives doing the voting : “ They actually are the ones who vote , people don ’ t usually — they do the voting.
” How bad has it gotten @ @ @ @ @ @ @ competition for votes in MN-05 , but there ’ s not much honor among thieves : There is far too much for us to excerpt here , so be sure to watch the whole video .
According to the sources on PV ’ s tape , Ilhan Omar ’ s campaign is going as far as entering the voting booth and marking the ballots themselves , and paying the voters on their way home .
The money is allegedly coming from a Palestinian businessman hoping to undermine support in Congress for Israel , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the Department of Justice .
As O ’ Keefe notes near the end , though , that still raises questions as to why no one has been curious enough until now to investigate this “ open secret.
” Why didn ’ t the Strib do this kind of investigative journalism in its own back yard ?
Why did it take Project Veritas to get the attention of Minneapolis police , especially when a Ramsey County Sheriff deputy was already raising the alarm ?
Why are Hennepin County and the state of Minnesota @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we all know the answers to those questions — because the scheme benefited their preferred politicians and politics .
If the police are interested now , it might be because they no longer prefer either of those after this summer ’ s attempt to abolish their department .
Don ’ t expect Keith Ellison to take any interest , though .
This will have to get attention above the state level for any real action at all .

Well, well, well … perhaps all isn’t entirely lost in the Twin Cities after all. Yesterday morning, Project Veritas released an exposé of potentially large-scale ballot-harvesting fraud in Minneapolis’ Somali community, complete with social-media video bragging about it. “It’s an open secret,” Ramsey County Sheriff deputy Omar Jamal told James O’Keefe, even though no one in Minneapolis or Hennepin County seemed interested in stopping it.
Until yesterday evening, that is. The Minneapolis Police Department issued a statement declaring that the PV allegations were now “being evaluated,” which is at least an improvement over “being ignored”:
ALLEGATIONS OF VOTER FRAUD BEING EVALUATED. ✅ The MPD is aware of the allegations of vote harvesting. We are in the process of looking into the validity of those statements. No further information is available at this time on this. — Minneapolis Police (@MinneapolisPD) September 28, 2020
Speaking of being ignored, the local media seems to have snapped out of it. The Star Tribune actually covered it, although they turned it into a “Trump and GOP pounce” piece:
President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers in Minnesota called for an investigation Monday into a conservative activist group’s allegations of illegal mail-in ballot “harvesting” in a special Minneapolis City Council election this summer. A spokesman for the Minneapolis Police Department said they were “in the process of looking into the validity” of the group’s statements. Meanwhile the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office said it was made aware of the allegations in the media but had received no information or cases involving so-called ballot harvesting in any elections held this year. With just five weeks until the Nov. 3 election, Republicans seized on the mail-in fraud allegations in the city’s August primary to question the security of the no-excuse absentee voting system for the general election, which started on Sept. 18. The allegations, brought by the conservative activist group Project Veritas, come as Trump and his GOP allies have intensified their criticism of mail-in voting, which has grown in popularity across the nation in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Election experts say there has been no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the U.S., although Trump has used the issue to already cast doubt on the results of the presidential election.
No evidence of widespread voter fraud? Maybe, but that’s a term that is pretty elastic. In the context of Minneapolis, however, the bragging caught on tape of the scale of illegal ballot harvesting looks large enough. If that doesn’t convince people, then perhaps the new undercover video from Project Veritas will. It features an actual cash payment for ballots:
In part two of an explosive exposé, a Minnesota-based source tells Project Veritas that the mastermind behind the rampant voter fraud scheme is Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) herself and her extensive political machine. … A Minneapolis ballot harvester was recorded with a hidden camera describing how the operatives make sure the voters vote correctly by walking into the booth with the voter. “They help us at the voting booth. They allow them to help us,” the ballot harvester said. “They go inside with us and help us, and they actually do that inside there.” The ballot harvester said there is no confusion. The operatives doing the voting: “They actually are the ones who vote, people don’t usually — they do the voting.”
How bad has it gotten? There’s now a cash competition for votes in MN-05, but there’s not much honor among thieves:
In the Aug. 11 Democratic Primary, Congresswoman Omar’s opponent Antone Meton-Meaux reportedly paid for votes. “The black guy [Meton-Meaux] has most of the money, but we took the money from him and we voted for Ilhan,” said Osman Ali Dahquane, a Minneapolis taxi driver involved in local vote buying schemes.
There is far too much for us to excerpt here, so be sure to watch the whole video. According to the sources on PV’s tape, Ilhan Omar’s campaign is going as far as entering the voting booth and marking the ballots themselves, and paying the voters on their way home. The money is allegedly coming from a Palestinian businessman hoping to undermine support in Congress for Israel, which if true might be veeeerrrry interesting to the Department of Justice.
As O’Keefe notes near the end, though, that still raises questions as to why no one has been curious enough until now to investigate this “open secret.” Why didn’t the Strib do this kind of investigative journalism in its own back yard? Why did it take Project Veritas to get the attention of Minneapolis police, especially when a Ramsey County Sheriff deputy was already raising the alarm? Why are Hennepin County and the state of Minnesota doing something about this?
I think we all know the answers to those questions — because the scheme benefited their preferred politicians and politics. If the police are interested now, it might be because they no longer prefer either of those after this summer’s attempt to abolish their department. Don’t expect Keith Ellison to take any interest, though. This will have to get attention above the state level for any real action at all.


hotair--2020-09-29--Alarm bells: Two new polls show Trump down nine in Pennsylvania

The reason for the alarm bells is that , until recently , Pennsylvania polling was still tight .
As recently as September 6 , Biden led there by an average of just 3.2 points .
That made PA a noteworthy and even potentially decisive outlier in the Rust Belt , where Michigan and Wisconsin have remained fairly solid for Biden .
The conventional wisdom among politicos is that MI and WI are a reach for Republicans in 2020 but that Pennsylvania might still answer the bell , especially with the GOP having gained meaningfully on Democrats in registering voters there @ @ @ @ @ @ @ still on the board , Trump has a shot at winning .
Losing Michigan and Wisconsin would drop him to 280 electoral votes from his 2016 haul .
Losing the second congressional districts in Maine and Nebraska , which seems likely at the moment , would bump him down a bit further to 278 .
His margin of error at that point is zero , but it ’ s not hard to imagine a systemic polling error across all battlegrounds that ’ s underestimated turnout among Trump voters by a few points .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ MI and WI red but Florida , North Carolina , Georgia , Texas , Iowa , and Ohio are all close enough right now that a shift of a few points to the right might hand all of those states to Trump again .
Even Arizona , which had seemed to be drifting away from him in late summer , has had some encouraging polling lately : The wild card is Pennsylvania .
Even if Trump pulls another inside straight a la 2016 and wins nailbiters in all of the other states named @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and WI would be enough to give Biden the presidency .
Realistically , there ’ s nowhere for Trump to make up Pennsylvania ’ s electoral votes by flipping a blue state either .
He could flip Nevada , but that ’ s only worth six , which would leave him at 264 to Biden ’ s 274 .
If he flipped Nevada *and* Minnesota , that would get him back up above 270 despite losing Pennsylvania — but Minnesota doesn ’ t look competitive at the moment , with Biden enjoying an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of which is a long way of saying that PA is essentially as much of a must-win as Florida is .
( And even Pennsylvania wouldn ’ t guarantee Trump a victory if Biden pulled an upset in , say , Ohio .
The president needs to win *all* remaining red battlegrounds if Michigan and Wisconsin are off the board . )
Hence the alarm bells today : Two well-regarded polls published in the last 24 hours suddenly have Biden up nine points in PA .
The Times has it 49/40 based on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ killing it with women and college-educated white voters and he ’ s holding down Trump ’ s margins with rural voters and whites without a degree .
There may not be a lot of undecided voters available to him either .
ABC/WaPo has the race 54/45 and tells a similar story .
Women , suburbanites , whites with degrees are all boosting Biden .
Biden also enjoys a small but meaningful crossover vote , taking eight percent of Pennsylvania voters who supported Trump in 2016 .
Trump ’ s winning just one percent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ More : The Democrat leads among women by 61 to 38 % , while men divide far more closely , 53 to 46 % Trump-Biden , a wide 30-point gender gap .
Among white people only , men favor Trump by a wide 60 to 39 % , while white women support Biden by 56 to 43 % .
The gap is narrower in the suburbs , but notable nonetheless , given that suburban residents account for six in 10 likely voters in the state .
The race is essentially a dead heat @ @ @ @ @ @ @ % , Trump-Biden — while it ’ s 59 to 41 % , Biden-Trump , among suburban woman .
That produces an overall result in the suburbs of 54 to 45 % , exactly matching the race statewide.… Among likely voters today , college-educated white people support Biden by 61 to 38 % .
That includes a 63 to 35 % race among college-educated white women .
But here , the big shift is among college-educated white men .
They backed Trump by 56 to 39 % in 2016 .
Today that ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 42 % in Biden ’ s favor .
Hillary won the Philadelphia suburbs by 13 points .
Biden leads there in this poll by … 38 .
In the Times poll , Biden held Trump to a 62/23 lead *among Republicans* in Philly , its suburbs , and Allegheny County ( which includes Pittsburgh ) .
That ’ s despite the fact that Trump enjoys 53 percent approval statewide on the economy , with voters favoring him slightly over Biden on who ’ d best handle the economy going forward .
It ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s widely seen as better for voters ’ bottom line and trail this badly , especially among higher earners in places like the suburbs , but darned if he hasn ’ t done it : I think that ’ s it .
It ’ s not that college-educated voters believe Biden would be better than Trump on every issue ( although he ’ s rated more highly on the pandemic ) , it ’ s that they ’ re tired of the daily circus .
If that ’ s true , you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ say or do at tonight ’ s debate , realistically , to change their minds .
A Biden “ senior moment ” might make voters reconsider but Trump ’ s going to be Trump .
If you ’ re against him because of his persona , three more sustained doses of it on a national debate stage isn ’ t going to make you like it again .
As for why we should trust either of these new polls , one way to look at PA is by looking at it in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s possible that there ’ s a general trend towards Biden nationally and that Pennsylvania will buck that trend , but it ’ s unlikely .
For one thing , Table 1 here shows that Biden ’ s statistical “ predicted margin ” outperforms Clinton ’ s 2016 margin in every last state in America .
All 50 .
( He slightly underperforms in D.C. ) That doesn ’ t sound like a recipe for Trump winning every battleground except Michigan and Wisconsin , particularly considering how closely the swing-state races were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Political Report shifted Iowa and Ohio from “ lean Republican ” to toss-up this morning because of how tight the polling in both states has been lately .
But even ignoring the national picture , the most salient fact of Pennsylvania polling lately is that Trump seems to have a ceiling of 45 percent .
He hasn ’ t topped that number in any of the last eight polls — not even Trafalgar , which usually has much better numbers for him than the competition does .
Forty-five percent isn ’ t enough @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a strong-ish third-party candidate .
In a race that ’ s essentially a two-man field , it ’ s a red alert .
There may be a polling error that ’ s underestimating him right now , but the odds that it ’ s on the order of five percent are small .
He needs a big win tonight .

The reason for the alarm bells is that, until recently, Pennsylvania polling was still tight. As recently as September 6, Biden led there by an average of just 3.2 points. That made PA a noteworthy and even potentially decisive outlier in the Rust Belt, where Michigan and Wisconsin have remained fairly solid for Biden. The conventional wisdom among politicos is that MI and WI are a reach for Republicans in 2020 but that Pennsylvania might still answer the bell, especially with the GOP having gained meaningfully on Democrats in registering voters there.
And as long as PA is still on the board, Trump has a shot at winning. Losing Michigan and Wisconsin would drop him to 280 electoral votes from his 2016 haul. Losing the second congressional districts in Maine and Nebraska, which seems likely at the moment, would bump him down a bit further to 278. His margin of error at that point is zero, but it’s not hard to imagine a systemic polling error across all battlegrounds that’s underestimated turnout among Trump voters by a few points. That might not be enough to keep MI and WI red but Florida, North Carolina, Georgia, Texas, Iowa, and Ohio are all close enough right now that a shift of a few points to the right might hand all of those states to Trump again. Even Arizona, which had seemed to be drifting away from him in late summer, has had some encouraging polling lately:
Arizona Poll: Trump 46% (+1)
Biden 45%@DataProgress
(LV, 9/15-9/22) — Political Polls (@PpollingNumbers) September 25, 2020
Arizona Poll: Biden 49% (+2)
Trump 47% Data Orbital — Political Polls (@PpollingNumbers) September 25, 2020
The wild card is Pennsylvania. Even if Trump pulls another inside straight a la 2016 and wins nailbiters in all of the other states named above, losing PA along with MI and WI would be enough to give Biden the presidency. Realistically, there’s nowhere for Trump to make up Pennsylvania’s electoral votes by flipping a blue state either. He could flip Nevada, but that’s only worth six, which would leave him at 264 to Biden’s 274. If he flipped Nevada *and* Minnesota, that would get him back up above 270 despite losing Pennsylvania — but Minnesota doesn’t look competitive at the moment, with Biden enjoying an average lead of 9.4 points.
All of which is a long way of saying that PA is essentially as much of a must-win as Florida is. (And even Pennsylvania wouldn’t guarantee Trump a victory if Biden pulled an upset in, say, Ohio. The president needs to win *all* remaining red battlegrounds if Michigan and Wisconsin are off the board.) Hence the alarm bells today: Two well-regarded polls published in the last 24 hours suddenly have Biden up nine points in PA. The Times has it 49/40 based on some familiar electoral dynamics: Biden is killing it with women and college-educated white voters and he’s holding down Trump’s margins with rural voters and whites without a degree. There may not be a lot of undecided voters available to him either.
Among Pennsylvania voters who are not registered with either major party, Mr. Biden held a commanding lead, 48 percent to 27 percent, suggesting Mr. Trump is not growing his potential electorate. Another warning sign for the president: Nearly half of all voters, 47 percent, “strongly disapprove” of how he handles his job as president, evidence of entrenched opposition with five weeks until Election Day and voting already underway in Pennsylvania. A smaller share, 32 percent, strongly disapproved of Mr. Biden.
ABC/WaPo has the race 54/45 and tells a similar story. Women, suburbanites, whites with degrees are all boosting Biden. Biden also enjoys a small but meaningful crossover vote, taking eight percent of Pennsylvania voters who supported Trump in 2016. Trump’s winning just one percent of Clinton 2016 voters by contrast. More:
The Democrat leads among women by 61 to 38%, while men divide far more closely, 53 to 46% Trump-Biden, a wide 30-point gender gap. Among white people only, men favor Trump by a wide 60 to 39%, while white women support Biden by 56 to 43%. The gap is narrower in the suburbs, but notable nonetheless, given that suburban residents account for six in 10 likely voters in the state. The race is essentially a dead heat among suburban men — 51 to 49%, Trump-Biden — while it’s 59 to 41%, Biden-Trump, among suburban woman. That produces an overall result in the suburbs of 54 to 45%, exactly matching the race statewide.… Among likely voters today, college-educated white people support Biden by 61 to 38%. That includes a 63 to 35% race among college-educated white women. But here, the big shift is among college-educated white men. They backed Trump by 56 to 39% in 2016. Today that’s almost exactly reversed, 57 to 42% in Biden’s favor.
Hillary won the Philadelphia suburbs by 13 points. Biden leads there in this poll by … 38. In the Times poll, Biden held Trump to a 62/23 lead *among Republicans* in Philly, its suburbs, and Allegheny County (which includes Pittsburgh). That’s despite the fact that Trump enjoys 53 percent approval statewide on the economy, with voters favoring him slightly over Biden on who’d best handle the economy going forward. It’s hard to be an incumbent who’s widely seen as better for voters’ bottom line and trail this badly, especially among higher earners in places like the suburbs, but darned if he hasn’t done it:
For those who say Trump's erratic behavior has no cost, poll reaffirms a key pattern: 81% of col+ whites describe their personal financial situation as excellent/good. Yet Biden leads Trump w/them by 16 points. Trump continues 2 face historic defection from economically satisfied https://t.co/PP2jntVCFV — Ronald Brownstein (@RonBrownstein) September 27, 2020
I think that’s it. It’s not that college-educated voters believe Biden would be better than Trump on every issue (although he’s rated more highly on the pandemic), it’s that they’re tired of the daily circus. If that’s true, you’re left wondering what Trump could say or do at tonight’s debate, realistically, to change their minds. A Biden “senior moment” might make voters reconsider but Trump’s going to be Trump. If you’re against him because of his persona, three more sustained doses of it on a national debate stage isn’t going to make you like it again.
As for why we should trust either of these new polls, one way to look at PA is by looking at it in the context of the broader map. It’s possible that there’s a general trend towards Biden nationally and that Pennsylvania will buck that trend, but it’s unlikely. For one thing, Table 1 here shows that Biden’s statistical “predicted margin” outperforms Clinton’s 2016 margin in every last state in America. All 50. (He slightly underperforms in D.C.) That doesn’t sound like a recipe for Trump winning every battleground except Michigan and Wisconsin, particularly considering how closely the swing-state races were last time. In fact, Cook Political Report shifted Iowa and Ohio from “lean Republican” to toss-up this morning because of how tight the polling in both states has been lately.
But even ignoring the national picture, the most salient fact of Pennsylvania polling lately is that Trump seems to have a ceiling of 45 percent. He hasn’t topped that number in any of the last eight polls — not even Trafalgar, which usually has much better numbers for him than the competition does. Forty-five percent isn’t enough to win even in a race with a strong-ish third-party candidate. In a race that’s essentially a two-man field, it’s a red alert. There may be a polling error that’s underestimating him right now, but the odds that it’s on the order of five percent are small. He needs a big win tonight.


hotair--2020-09-29--Federal appeals court judge halts reinstatement of straight-ticket voting in Texas

A temporary hold has been placed on the reinstatement of straight-ticket voting in Texas by judges on the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals .
On Monday the hold was placed on a ruling last week by a lower court .
The court will weigh the arguments more thoroughly and issue a final ruling .
Just three days ago I wrote about the Texas Democrats ’ latest last-minute power grab .
Late last Friday U.S. District Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo ruled against legislation passed during the 2017 state legislative session that eliminated straight-ticket voting .
The judge ’ s ruling was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , insulted voters .
Her ruling implied that Democrat voters are too stupid to vote for individual candidates and must depend on straight-ticket voting .
It isn ’ t a surprise that on Saturday Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed an appeal and motion to stay on Judge Marmolejo ’ s ruling .
In-person early voting begins on October 13 in Texas , in less than three weeks .
Ballots are in the mail for those requesting to vote by mail .
Some eager voters have already returned their ballots .
Re-implementation of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ re-calibrating voting machines across the state .
Judge Marmolejo also argued that the risk to Texas voters to be exposed to the coronavirus during long wait times to vote is an unnecessary risk .
Straight-ticket voting is faster than going through a ballot and voting in each race , she reasoned , and voters will be harmed by that .
This is malarkey , of course .
If people can go to the grocery store or other brick and mortar retail stores , they can vote in person .
The case was brought @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Democratic groups .
The three-judge panel for the New Orleans-based Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals set quick deadlines for both sides to submit arguments .
Election officials have been left to scramble to keep up with various lawsuits that have been in play during the lead up to the November general election .
Democrats love creating chaos and think this benefits their goal of turning Texas into a blue state .
Bexar County Election Administrator Jacque Callanen told the Houston Chronicle last week that changing plans this close to the first day @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unbelievable.
” “ For us right now to have to stop what we ’ re doing and reprogram and retest , and with the early start of early voting — oh my God , ” Callanen said .
“ I can ’ t say we won ’ t do it , but it ’ s going to take everything in us , and we ’ re going to have to throw as many people at it as we can.
” Straight-ticket voting is a popular option , generally more so among Democrats in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the 2018 general election , about two-thirds of Texas voters used the straight-ticket option .
The option makes a particularly meaningful difference in places like Houston , where there may be dozens of local judges on the ballot for voters to select among after they decide on candidates for major federal and statewide offices .
Without straight-ticket voting , both Republican and Democratic operatives fear that some of their voters may leave their polling places without making it to the end of their ballots .
Operatives from both parties are busy reminding voters @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ballot when they vote so that other important races , other than the ones at the top of the ballot , are not ignored .
It ’ s true that ballots are notoriously long in places like Harris County ( Houston ) .
Some voters don ’ t pay much attention to down-ballot races , especially for judges and county offices , for example , and just leave them blank .
The battle over voting in the 2020 general election continues in Texas .
It ’ s going right down to the wire @

A temporary hold has been placed on the reinstatement of straight-ticket voting in Texas by judges on the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. On Monday the hold was placed on a ruling last week by a lower court. The court will weigh the arguments more thoroughly and issue a final ruling.
Just three days ago I wrote about the Texas Democrats’ latest last-minute power grab. Late last Friday U.S. District Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo ruled against legislation passed during the 2017 state legislative session that eliminated straight-ticket voting. The judge’s ruling was full of convoluted reasoning that, frankly, insulted voters. Her ruling implied that Democrat voters are too stupid to vote for individual candidates and must depend on straight-ticket voting.
It isn’t a surprise that on Saturday Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed an appeal and motion to stay on Judge Marmolejo’s ruling. In-person early voting begins on October 13 in Texas, in less than three weeks. Ballots are in the mail for those requesting to vote by mail. Some eager voters have already returned their ballots. Re-implementation of straight-ticket voting will require reprinting ballots and re-calibrating voting machines across the state. Judge Marmolejo also argued that the risk to Texas voters to be exposed to the coronavirus during long wait times to vote is an unnecessary risk. Straight-ticket voting is faster than going through a ballot and voting in each race, she reasoned, and voters will be harmed by that. This is malarkey, of course. If people can go to the grocery store or other brick and mortar retail stores, they can vote in person. The case was brought by the Texas Alliance for Retired Americans and Democratic groups.
The three-judge panel for the New Orleans-based Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals set quick deadlines for both sides to submit arguments. Election officials have been left to scramble to keep up with various lawsuits that have been in play during the lead up to the November general election. Democrats love creating chaos and think this benefits their goal of turning Texas into a blue state.
Bexar County Election Administrator Jacque Callanen told the Houston Chronicle last week that changing plans this close to the first day of early voting Oct. 13 was “unbelievable.” “For us right now to have to stop what we’re doing and reprogram and retest, and with the early start of early voting — oh my God,” Callanen said. “I can’t say we won’t do it, but it’s going to take everything in us, and we’re going to have to throw as many people at it as we can.” Straight-ticket voting is a popular option, generally more so among Democrats in Texas’ 10 largest counties. In the 2018 general election, about two-thirds of Texas voters used the straight-ticket option. The option makes a particularly meaningful difference in places like Houston, where there may be dozens of local judges on the ballot for voters to select among after they decide on candidates for major federal and statewide offices. Without straight-ticket voting, both Republican and Democratic operatives fear that some of their voters may leave their polling places without making it to the end of their ballots.
Operatives from both parties are busy reminding voters to go all the way down the ballot when they vote so that other important races, other than the ones at the top of the ballot, are not ignored. It’s true that ballots are notoriously long in places like Harris County (Houston). Some voters don’t pay much attention to down-ballot races, especially for judges and county offices, for example, and just leave them blank. The battle over voting in the 2020 general election continues in Texas. It’s going right down to the wire.


hotair--2020-09-29--NYPD again rousts BLM protesters

NYPD again rousts BLM protesters

Last week we looked at a report on how the NYPD had actually begun cracking down on “ peaceful protesters ” in the Big Apple who were blocking traffic and attacking motorists .
This seemed to signal a change in policy , leading me to wonder if there was some new directive coming down from City Hall about restoring order in the streets .
While there has still been no official announcement from City Hall on that score , the evidence is continuing to mount suggesting that there ’ s been some new marching orders given to the cops and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ criminals on notice .
As the local CBS outlet reports this week , law enforcement once again showed up at a protest in Washington Square Park on Saturday night and put the boot to those who were refusing to obey the law .
Hundreds of NYPD members surrounded the BLM protesters , then police in riot gear and on bikes rushed into the crowd .
“ Just dancing , that ’ s all we were doing .
They came out of nowhere , ” one protester told CBS2 ’ s Kiran Dhillon .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the streets , alleviating our pain .
We are in pain every single day , and they can ’ t even let us have that , ” another protester said .
It remains unclear precisely what triggered the initial police response , but there were a significant number of arrests for disorderly conduct and obstruction of government administration .
The group had apparently organized some sort of musical performance in the park without a permit , for starters .
The surrounding streets and walkways in the park were also blocked by the crowd @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , as we did in Times Square last week , is a case of the NYPD moving in and taking control before the assembled throng had the opportunity to turn it into a full-scale riot .
Some of the protest organizers accused the police of “ terrorizing joy.
” But there was more than joyful dancing going on according to some witnesses .
And after months of riots , arson and attacks on law enforcement officers , expecting the cops to just lay back and wait for the situation to spiral further out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ One of the more controversial aspects of the police response came when they pursued some of the participants engaged in disorderly conduct into the nearby restaurant area where people were dining outdoors because of the pandemic .
Both protesters and cops wound up crashing into some of the dining areas and alarming the diners at the tables .
That ’ s unfortunate , given how hard-pressed the restaurant owners are to even keep their doors open under the city ’ s oppressive lockdown orders , but if a few spilled plates of linguini @ @ @ @ @ @ @ collateral damage , I suppose we can probably give them a pass .
According to the organizers of this event , the stated reason for the protest was “ justice for Breonna Taylor.
” They claim that they plan to continue with these protests until their idea of “ justice ” is delivered .
That ’ s likely to be a very long wait , so the cops will need to remain on alert for the foreseeable future .
What might really help at this point would be for Mayor Bill de Blasio @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about how the city will be handling all of this massive unrest in the future .
It might even help him mend his relationship with the NYPD a bit during his final term in office .

Last week we looked at a report on how the NYPD had actually begun cracking down on “peaceful protesters” in the Big Apple who were blocking traffic and attacking motorists. This seemed to signal a change in policy, leading me to wonder if there was some new directive coming down from City Hall about restoring order in the streets. While there has still been no official announcement from City Hall on that score, the evidence is continuing to mount suggesting that there’s been some new marching orders given to the cops and that they’re prepared to put criminals on notice. As the local CBS outlet reports this week, law enforcement once again showed up at a protest in Washington Square Park on Saturday night and put the boot to those who were refusing to obey the law.
A Black Lives Matters protest at Washington Square Park quickly escalated Saturday night after police surrounded demonstrators. Hundreds of NYPD members surrounded the BLM protesters, then police in riot gear and on bikes rushed into the crowd. “Just dancing, that’s all we were doing. They came out of nowhere,” one protester told CBS2’s Kiran Dhillon. “We were free, dancing in the streets, alleviating our pain. We are in pain every single day, and they can’t even let us have that,” another protester said.
It remains unclear precisely what triggered the initial police response, but there were a significant number of arrests for disorderly conduct and obstruction of government administration. The group had apparently organized some sort of musical performance in the park without a permit, for starters. The surrounding streets and walkways in the park were also blocked by the crowd.
What we may be seeing here, as we did in Times Square last week, is a case of the NYPD moving in and taking control before the assembled throng had the opportunity to turn it into a full-scale riot. Some of the protest organizers accused the police of “terrorizing joy.” But there was more than joyful dancing going on according to some witnesses. And after months of riots, arson and attacks on law enforcement officers, expecting the cops to just lay back and wait for the situation to spiral further out of control is unrealistic at best.
One of the more controversial aspects of the police response came when they pursued some of the participants engaged in disorderly conduct into the nearby restaurant area where people were dining outdoors because of the pandemic. Both protesters and cops wound up crashing into some of the dining areas and alarming the diners at the tables. That’s unfortunate, given how hard-pressed the restaurant owners are to even keep their doors open under the city’s oppressive lockdown orders, but if a few spilled plates of linguini wound up being the worst of the collateral damage, I suppose we can probably give them a pass.
According to the organizers of this event, the stated reason for the protest was “justice for Breonna Taylor.” They claim that they plan to continue with these protests until their idea of “justice” is delivered. That’s likely to be a very long wait, so the cops will need to remain on alert for the foreseeable future. What might really help at this point would be for Mayor Bill de Blasio to come out with an official statement about how the city will be handling all of this massive unrest in the future. It might even help him mend his relationship with the NYPD a bit during his final term in office.


hotair--2020-09-29--Manchin, Tester: Let's not do Kavanaugh II: Mudslinging Boogaloo with ACB

Did Democrats learn a lesson from the 2018 Senate confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court ?
According to The Hill , at least a few of them did , the biggest of which was — don ’ t do character assassinations close to an election .
In retrospect , some Senate Democrats admit to a Kavanaugh Effect on the 2018 midterms , held just weeks after the “ fiasco ” hearings , in which the GOP picked up seats in the middle of a blue wave in the House .
At least the red-state Senate Democrats have … @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reports Sen. Joe Manchin ( W.Va. ) , the only Democrat who voted to confirm Kavanaugh in 2018 and went on to win reelection that year in a state that Trump carried by 42 points in 2016 , said he hopes the Senate avoids a Kavanaugh-type redux .
“ I hope they do .
I would hope all my colleagues … have a civil , have a really professional , decent , honorable , respectable hearing , that ’ s all .
And get to the points , ” he said .
Manchin @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which erupted into controversy after allegations from a woman that the nominee sexually assaulted her when the two were in high school , a “ fiasco.
” “ That vote cost , I think , a few of our colleagues their jobs , ” he said .
Those people , another unnamed member of the caucus noted , were Joe Donnelly , Claire McCaskill , and Heidi Heitkamp .
Before the Kavanaugh hearings , all three incumbents looked like they stood a decent chance at re-election .
All three got the boot instead @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to Alexander Bolton , “ I ’ m sick and tired of losing .
… We ’ re not going to go down that road again .
” Montana ’ s Jon Tester , who prevailed in his 2018 contest even after the Kavanaugh debacle , said his standing took a hit as well .
He said Senate Democrats should learn another lesson from the botched attack on the Supreme Court nominee and the voter backlash that resulted — namely , don ’ t listen to Chuck Schumer and the progressive leadership of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Senate Democrats need to work on sharing power so that not just a few voices dominate the debate .
“ They do need to do a better job of distributing power , including Schumer , ” he said , referring to Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer ( D-N.Y. ) .
“ And this is going to be an opportunity for them to do that because this is a very important thing.
” All of this sounds good , but does it mean that the whole caucus has learned its lesson ?
So far @ @ @ @ @ @ @ qualified no .
The progressive leadership and its allies are still attempting to delegitimize both Amy Coney Barrett and the process , so much so that even CNN ’ s Wolf Blitzer felt compelled to call shenanigans on Richard Blumenthal over the weekend : “ Illegal it may be not under the Constitution , ” Blumenthal stated in what sounded like a bad Yoda impression .
“ [ But ] under the norms and traditions and unwritten rules of the Senate it is illegitimate .
One of the unwritten rules is that people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to yada yada about how Republicans had allegedly broken their “ promise ” not to nominate someone to the Supreme Court during a presidential election year , but Blitzer didn ’ t let him slide .
“ So what I hear you saying , Sen. Blumenthal , ” Blitzer countered , is that “ it may be inappropriate , it may be wrong – especially so close to an election – but you agree that there ’ s nothing illegal or totally illegitimate as to what they ’ re doing ?
” “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Constitution , ” Blumenthal responded reluctantly .
“ It violates the spirit of the Constitution , which is to give the American people a say in this kind of hugely consequential decision.
” That ’ s idiotic .
The Constitution explicitly gives the Senate the authority to “ advise and consent ” to presidential appointments ( Article II Section 2 ) , not “ the people , ” and that ’ s hardly an oversight .
The Constitution uses the term “ the people ” nine times , so it hardly treats @ @ @ @ @ @ @ spirit of the Constitution is embodied in its limited governance and its framework of a representative republic rather than a populist democracy .
Manchin and Tester have wised up , and maybe one more unnamed Senate Democrat ( Doug Jones , perhaps ? )
.
Don ’ t bet yet that the rest of them have figured out the minefield ahead .
And even if they have , will their progressive-activist base allow them to give Barrett a fair hearing — or will they walk out just before the election ?

Did Democrats learn a lesson from the 2018 Senate confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court? According to The Hill, at least a few of them did, the biggest of which was — don’t do character assassinations close to an election. In retrospect, some Senate Democrats admit to a Kavanaugh Effect on the 2018 midterms, held just weeks after the “fiasco” hearings, in which the GOP picked up seats in the middle of a blue wave in the House.
At least the red-state Senate Democrats have … those that are left, Alexander Bolton reports
Sen. Joe Manchin (W.Va.), the only Democrat who voted to confirm Kavanaugh in 2018 and went on to win reelection that year in a state that Trump carried by 42 points in 2016, said he hopes the Senate avoids a Kavanaugh-type redux. “I hope they do. I would hope all my colleagues … have a civil, have a really professional, decent, honorable, respectable hearing, that’s all. And get to the points,” he said. Manchin called the bruising Kavanaugh confirmation fight, which erupted into controversy after allegations from a woman that the nominee sexually assaulted her when the two were in high school, a “fiasco.” “That vote cost, I think, a few of our colleagues their jobs,” he said.
Those people, another unnamed member of the caucus noted, were Joe Donnelly, Claire McCaskill, and Heidi Heitkamp. Before the Kavanaugh hearings, all three incumbents looked like they stood a decent chance at re-election. All three got the boot instead, leading the unnamed senator to lament to Alexander Bolton, “I’m sick and tired of losing. … We’re not going to go down that road again. ”
Montana’s Jon Tester, who prevailed in his 2018 contest even after the Kavanaugh debacle, said his standing took a hit as well. He said Senate Democrats should learn another lesson from the botched attack on the Supreme Court nominee and the voter backlash that resulted — namely, don’t listen to Chuck Schumer and the progressive leadership of the caucus so much:
He thinks Senate Democrats need to work on sharing power so that not just a few voices dominate the debate. “They do need to do a better job of distributing power, including Schumer,” he said, referring to Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.). “And this is going to be an opportunity for them to do that because this is a very important thing.”
All of this sounds good, but does it mean that the whole caucus has learned its lesson? So far, the answer seems to be a qualified no. The progressive leadership and its allies are still attempting to delegitimize both Amy Coney Barrett and the process, so much so that even CNN’s Wolf Blitzer felt compelled to call shenanigans on Richard Blumenthal over the weekend:
After getting called out, Blumenthal admits confirming Judge Barrett doesn’t violate the Constitution. BLUMENTHAL: It is illegitimate. CNN: Where does it say that what Republicans are doing is illegitimate in the Constitution? BLUMENTHAL: It may not violate the Constitution. pic.twitter.com/DwWIOJplLH — Senate Republican Communications Center (@SRCC) September 27, 2020
“Illegal it may be not under the Constitution,” Blumenthal stated in what sounded like a bad Yoda impression. “[But] under the norms and traditions and unwritten rules of the Senate it is illegitimate. One of the unwritten rules is that people keep their word.” Blumenthal went on to yada yada about how Republicans had allegedly broken their “promise” not to nominate someone to the Supreme Court during a presidential election year, but Blitzer didn’t let him slide. “So what I hear you saying, Sen. Blumenthal,” Blitzer countered, is that “it may be inappropriate, it may be wrong – especially so close to an election – but you agree that there’s nothing illegal or totally illegitimate as to what they’re doing?” “It may not violate the letter of the Constitution,” Blumenthal responded reluctantly. “It violates the spirit of the Constitution, which is to give the American people a say in this kind of hugely consequential decision.”
That’s idiotic. The Constitution explicitly gives the Senate the authority to “advise and consent” to presidential appointments (Article II Section 2), not “the people,” and that’s hardly an oversight. The Constitution uses the term “the people” nine times, so it hardly treats the populace as an oversight. The spirit of the Constitution is embodied in its limited governance and its framework of a representative republic rather than a populist democracy.
Manchin and Tester have wised up, and maybe one more unnamed Senate Democrat (Doug Jones, perhaps?). Don’t bet yet that the rest of them have figured out the minefield ahead. And even if they have, will their progressive-activist base allow them to give Barrett a fair hearing — or will they walk out just before the election?


hotair--2020-09-30--Biden told so many whoppers last night, Burger King may sue him

The first thing I ’ ll say about last night ’ s debate is more of an overall impression than anything else .
Joe Biden surprised me .
There… I said it .
He managed to meet the exceedingly low bar that had been set for him by staying awake for the entire debate and not soiling his undergarments on stage .
( That we know of , anyway . )
He definitely engaged in some verbal wandering at points , but for the most part , he managed to stay on topic and didn ’ t completely veer off @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that going for him .
With that out of the way , we should probably dig into some of the substance .
If you ’ re looking for a list of the President ’ s more dubious claims or exaggerations , there will be no shortage of them all across the liberal media landscape this morning .
What you ’ ll see far less of is any serious fact-checking of former Vice President Biden ’ s wild and wooly claims .
But since somebody is going to have to do it , let @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the lowlights of Joe Biden ’ s performance .
Right out of the gate , one of the first questions that erupted into a food fight was the idea of the Democrats getting rid of the legislative filibuster and packing the Supreme Court if Biden wins and his party retakes control of the Senate .
This one doesn ’ t fall into the category of a “ lie ” on Uncle Joe ’ s part .
If anything , it ’ s worse .
He flatly said “ I ’ m not going @ @ @ @ @ @ @ m struggling to remember if any candidate in presidential electoral history has ever done that during a nationally televised debate .
Is this similar to Nancy Pelosi ’ s old playbook on Obamacare when she told us we needed to pass the bill to find out what was in it ?
You ’ ll need to elect me to find out what I ’ ll do as President .
That was a stunning moment .
Speaking of the Supreme Court , Biden was invited to comment on Judge Amy Coney Barrett .
He @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , “ I ’ m not opposed to the Justice.
” That ’ s news to the rest of the country , Sleepy Joe .
You put out a statement on the day the nomination was announced saying you opposed her specifically because of her past positions regarding Obamacare .
Biden went on to say that there shouldn ’ t be a nominee to replace Ginsburg until after the election when a new Senate class and the next President have been seated .
And of course he would say that .
But that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The 2017 version of Biden said “ The Constitution says the president shall nominate — not maybe he could , maybe he can ’ t — he shall nominate .
Implicit in the Constitution is that the Senate will act ” Ah… good times .
Later on , President Trump brought up the socialist manifesto that Joe Biden agreed to cook up in partnership with Bernie Sanders .
Biden responded by saying , “ There is no manifesto.
” That one must have taken some solid brass cojones to spit out because @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by the “ Biden-Sanders Unity Task Force ” and it ’ s still on Joe ’ s website to this day .
Biden later said it was “ not true ” that his son Hunter had received $ 3.5 million from the wife of the Mayor of Moscow .
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee disagrees and some of them were quite alarmed by this fact .
I suppose if Uncle Joe wants to dance on the head of a pin here , he could defend that statement by saying that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Seneca Thornton ) received the check .
But that ’ s a distinction without a difference in this case .
We could keep going with this for quite a while , but I think I ’ ll leave a substantial pile of Biden ’ s other “ misstatements ” on the table for the rest of the writers here to dive into .
Suffice it to say that the media narrative about how often the Bad Orange Man lies is going to need to go into overdrive this week if they want to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that Joe Biden rolled out last night .

The first thing I’ll say about last night’s debate is more of an overall impression than anything else. Joe Biden surprised me. There… I said it. He managed to meet the exceedingly low bar that had been set for him by staying awake for the entire debate and not soiling his undergarments on stage. (That we know of, anyway.) He definitely engaged in some verbal wandering at points, but for the most part, he managed to stay on topic and didn’t completely veer off into lala land. So he had that going for him.
With that out of the way, we should probably dig into some of the substance. If you’re looking for a list of the President’s more dubious claims or exaggerations, there will be no shortage of them all across the liberal media landscape this morning. What you’ll see far less of is any serious fact-checking of former Vice President Biden’s wild and wooly claims. But since somebody is going to have to do it, let’s run down a few of the lowlights of Joe Biden’s performance.
Right out of the gate, one of the first questions that erupted into a food fight was the idea of the Democrats getting rid of the legislative filibuster and packing the Supreme Court if Biden wins and his party retakes control of the Senate. This one doesn’t fall into the category of a “lie” on Uncle Joe’s part. If anything, it’s worse. He flatly said “I’m not going to answer the question.” I’m struggling to remember if any candidate in presidential electoral history has ever done that during a nationally televised debate. Is this similar to Nancy Pelosi’s old playbook on Obamacare when she told us we needed to pass the bill to find out what was in it? You’ll need to elect me to find out what I’ll do as President. That was a stunning moment.
Speaking of the Supreme Court, Biden was invited to comment on Judge Amy Coney Barrett. He looked right into the camera and said, “I’m not opposed to the Justice.” That’s news to the rest of the country, Sleepy Joe. You put out a statement on the day the nomination was announced saying you opposed her specifically because of her past positions regarding Obamacare.
Biden went on to say that there shouldn’t be a nominee to replace Ginsburg until after the election when a new Senate class and the next President have been seated. And of course he would say that. But that’s the Joe Biden of 2020. The 2017 version of Biden said “The Constitution says the president shall nominate — not maybe he could, maybe he can’t — he shall nominate. Implicit in the Constitution is that the Senate will act” Ah… good times.
Later on, President Trump brought up the socialist manifesto that Joe Biden agreed to cook up in partnership with Bernie Sanders. Biden responded by saying, “There is no manifesto.” That one must have taken some solid brass cojones to spit out because there absolutely was a 118-page manifesto developed by the “Biden-Sanders Unity Task Force” and it’s still on Joe’s website to this day.
Biden later said it was “not true” that his son Hunter had received $3.5 million from the wife of the Mayor of Moscow. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee disagrees and some of them were quite alarmed by this fact. I suppose if Uncle Joe wants to dance on the head of a pin here, he could defend that statement by saying that his son’s company (Rosemont Seneca Thornton) received the check. But that’s a distinction without a difference in this case.
We could keep going with this for quite a while, but I think I’ll leave a substantial pile of Biden’s other “misstatements” on the table for the rest of the writers here to dive into. Suffice it to say that the media narrative about how often the Bad Orange Man lies is going to need to go into overdrive this week if they want to keep up with the pack of whoppers that Joe Biden rolled out last night.