Georgia Board Turns Election Deniers Into Election ‘Monitors’

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Oy …

Fulton County filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the Georgia State Election Board to try to block it from sending in election deniers to serve as election “monitors.” The MAGA Republican majority on the board wants to appoint its own monitors despite Fulton County already having appointed a team to monitor its performance in this election.

Check out these bios of the “monitor” assigned to Fulton County:

They include former [state] Rep. Frank Ryan [R-PA], who asked his state’s congressional delegation not to recognize its electors in December 2020, and Heather Honey, a subcontractor in the Cyber Ninjas audit of the 2020 presidential election in Maricopa County, Arizona.

Honey is also responsible for the false claim, repeated by Trump, that there were “205,000 more votes than you had voters” in Pennsylvania.

Vote-rich Fulton County is plurality Black and had been a frequent target of Republicans trying to sow doubt and discord about election results.

The State Election Board responded to the Fulton County lawsuit yesterday by subpoenaing the county’s records for the … 2020 … election. Will it never end?

Sign O’ The Times

Bloomberg: “A new wrought-iron fence wraps around the Maricopa County office where votes will be counted next month. On Election Day, there’ll be concrete barriers too, along with plainclothes officers and mounted police.”

Alleged Election Day Terror Plot Thwarted

The FBI arrested an Afghan national in Oklahoma who was allegedly plotting an Election Day terror attack. The FBI got wind of the 27-year-old man, allegedly inspired by the Islamic State, and used a confidential informant to sell him and his juvenile brother-in-law a pair of AK-47 rifles and ammunition, at which point they were arrested Monday.

2024 Ephemera

• Presidential Transition: The Trump campaign has blown deadlines to participate in the official presidential transition process that both candidates usually engage in to smooth the post-election change of power, the NYT reports. One potential advantage for Trump of not participating: “His refusal to sign the documents allows him to circumvent fund-raising rules that put limits on private contributions to the transition effort, as well as ethics rules meant to avoid possible conflicts of interest for the incoming administration.”
• Electoral College: Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) reiterated his call to abolish the Electoral College, a position not favored by his running Kamala Harris, their campaign was quick to point out.

Which Is Worse?

The two big Trump-Putin reveals from Bob Woodward’s new book “War”:

• Trump has spoken with Putin as many as seven times since leaving office, according to an unnamed Trump aide. (That account was not able to be immediately confirmed by other journalists.)
• Trump secretly sent COVID tests to Putin for his personal use in 2020 when the tests were in short supply. (The Kremlin confirmed this account but denied that the two leaders have spoken by phone since Trump left office.)

Finding The Limits Of SCOTUS’ Conservative Majority

In oral arguments Tuesday, even the Supreme Court’s right-wing justices expressed skepticism towards a proposed ghost gun free-for-all.

‘Nobody Can Control The Weather’

The wave of misinformation in the wake of Hurricane Helene – some of it spread by Elon Musk – forced a Republican congressman in western North Carolina to issue a press release titled “Debunking Helene Response Myths.” One of the first entries in the press release from Rep. Chuck Edward (R-NC): “Nobody can control the weather.”

The Antisemitic Overtones Of Hurricane Helene Misinfo

• Politico: “FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said the swirl of false conspiracy theories around Hurricane Helene is dissuading survivors from seeking help and hurting morale among responders.”
• NYT: “A wave of antisemitic rhetoric and online threats has been leveled at state and federal officials in North Carolina in recent days as they respond to the destructive aftermath of Hurricane Helene, according to a report released on Tuesday by a nonprofit research group that studies online platforms.”
• WaPo: “The report noted that antisemitic sentiments were largely directed at three individual officials: FEMA director of public affairs Jaclyn Rothenberg, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Asheville, N.C., Mayor Esther Manheimer.”

Good Read

H. Colleen Sinclair: 5 Types Of People Who Spread Conspiracy Theories They Know Are Wrong

Oklahoma Shamed Out Of Trump Bible Grift?

Oklahoma modified the specs Monday for its request for proposals to provide 55,000 Bibles that State Superintendent Ryan Walters wants to put in public schools. The RFP now appears to be broad enough to include Bibles other than a specific Trump-endorsed Lee Greenwood edition.

Takedown Of The Day

Monica Hesse eviscerates Melania Trump’s new memoir:

So where does “Melania” — a plain-black-covered book written by a woman who rightly assumes she needs no other introduction — fall into this pantheon [of first lady memoirs]? Let’s check:

“Over the next few months, we developed several items: the Fluid Day Serum, the Luxe Night with Vitamins A and E, cleansing balm, and an exfoliating peel, all priced between $50 and $150. In my meetings with chemists, I discovered the rejuvenating properties of caviar.”

Where are we? What are we doing? 

Indeed.

Good Luck To MM Readers In Florida

The next 18-36 hours are going to be real rough across central Florida as major Hurricane Milton threatens to send a devastating storm surge into areas that are still recovering from last month’s Hurricane Helene and 2022’s Hurricane Ian. We’re thinking about you.

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