House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) did some backpedaling Wednesday evening as his and his colleagues’ threats about the debt ceiling and cutting Medicare and Social Security have begun to draw attention.
Continue reading “McCarthy Tries To Muddy Waters Around Republican Plan For Taking Debt Ceiling Hostage”It’s Too Late To Scrub GOPer Who Allegedly Masturbated Near Preschool From Ballot
A Republican candidate for the Maricopa County Community College Governing Board in Arizona was arrested in early October after he was allegedly caught masturbating in his truck near a child care center.
Continue reading “It’s Too Late To Scrub GOPer Who Allegedly Masturbated Near Preschool From Ballot”Careening Down to the Wire
You can look at the averages and — unfortunately — they keep ticking down for Democrats as we careen toward the big day on November 8th. Of course, the election is already in full swing in numerous early voting states. To keep up on early voting trends I always recommend following Michael McDonald who is the source on this topic. You can follow his feed here on Twitter. (He’s not the Doobie Brothers keyboardist, but still first rate.)
What Politicians And (Especially) JD Vance Don’t Get About The Overdose Crisis
This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news analysis.
During the first debate between Ohio’s U.S. Senate candidates J.D. Vance (R) and Tim Ryan (D), Vance reminded the audience that his mother struggled with addiction, but that she’s fortunate to not be using during the current, brutal period when illicit fentanyl has poisoned the drug supply.
Continue reading “What Politicians And (Especially) JD Vance Don’t Get About The Overdose Crisis”Liz Truss (Apparently) About to Resign Resigns
The fast-ending premiership of the comical Liz Truss appears to be on the verge of finally concluding. Reports have gone out that she will resign imminently and a lectern is being wheeled out in front of Number 10.
Late Update: And it’s official, she resigned. Immediate resignation as head of the Tory Party. New party election within the next week, at the conclusion of which she will resign as PM.
Texas Secretary Of State Already Prepping To Investigate Election Count
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo.
Never Too Early To Start Taking A Hammer To Democracy
The Texas secretary of state’s office told officials in Texas’ most populous county, Harris County, on Tuesday that it would be sending “inspectors” who will “perform randomized checks on election records, including tapes and chain-of-custody, and will observe the handling and counting of ballots and electronic media.”
- Early voting for the midterms hasn’t even started yet in the Lone Star State. It begins on Monday.
- The secretary of state’s office claimed the inspection plans were prompted by Texas’ fake “audit” of the 2020 election results. You will be shocked to hear that the audit didn’t find proof of mass voter fraud.
Wisconsin GOP Guv Nominee Repeatedly Called Cops Over Some Dumb Stuff
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel discovered that Tim Michels, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers’ (D) Republican challenger, apparently likes to treat his local police department like a customer service line, having called the cops multiple times in the past 20 years for less-than-harrowing reasons.
- Michels called the police in February 2018 when he couldn’t reach his wife at their lake house for three hours, only for the officers to show up at the house and find out that she’d been napping the whole time.
- He called the police in 2019 because his golden retriever had been gone for two hours. There wasn’t a follow-up report, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
- He called the police twice within several months around September 2004 about litter on his lawn. The first time it was free buyers guides; the second time it was a bunch of copies of a local newspaper.
- None of this, of course, is as traumatic as what Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) endured in May when someone drew a chalk message on the sidewalk outside her house begging her to codify Roe v. Wade into law.
Putin Declares Martial Law In Illegally Annexed Areas In Ukraine
Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Wednesday ordered martial law in the four regions of Ukraine that he illegally annexed after the Kremlin held fake referendums in those areas (Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia).
- The order could lead to censorship, curfews, and bans on public gatherings and travel in the regions, per Russian legislation approving Putin’s order.
- Putin’s invasion of Ukraine continues to fall apart, and hundreds of thousands of Russian men are fleeing their homeland to avoid getting drafted into their leader’s shambolic war effort.
Trump Considering Allowing Second Mar-a-Lago Search
Here’s a head-scratching development: The ex-president and his legal team are weighing whether to let federal agents search Mar-a-Lago again given that the Justice Department believes he still hasn’t turned over all the government records he squirreled away at the resort, according to CNN.
- Why? Because Trump’s reportedly getting worn down by the whole mess and wants to move forward with his political career.
- At least one person in Trump’s orbit apparently thinks it’s a bad idea, telling CNN that “it’s a risk to invite a DOJ lawyer to lunch let alone back to Mar-a-Lago.”
Judge Signals Trump Lied About Voter Fraud In Court
A federal judge in California found on Wednesday that Trump had knowingly signed a legal document that touted fake data about voter fraud as he was trying to argue that votes from dead people and convicted felons were being counted in Georgia’s Fulton County.
- This is the same judge who found earlier this year that Trump likely committed a crime (specifically, obstruction of Congress) in his efforts to overturn the election.
- The judge’s ruling on Wednesday came in a case involving coup architect John Eastman’s emails, which he’s been attempting to shield from the House Jan. 6 Committee.
The Drowning Of Liz Truss
British Prime Minister Liz Truss lost a second senior minister in her government when Home Secretary Suella Braverman resigned on Wednesday, less than a week after Truss gave Treasury minister Kwasi Kwarteng the boot.
- Truss is in deep doo-doo and the U.K. government is a hot mess. There’s really no kinder way of putting it.
- Key analysis: “Don’t Blame Brexit” – The Atlantic
In short, Britain has done a lot of stupid shit.
Must Read
“When the National Culture Wars Come to Your School” – The Washington Post
Key Analysis
“Sean Hannity’s million-dollar in-kind contribution to the GOP” – The Washington Post
Pence Teases Potential 2024 Bid
Former Vice President Mike Pence gave his biggest hint so far that he plans on running for president in 2024, saying Wednesday that there “might be somebody else I’d prefer more” when asked if he’d vote for Trump.
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Durham Entered With Lofty Expectations. What Happened?
Three years ago, when President Trump ordered an investigation into the origins of the Trump-Russia investigations, he set expectations at a high level.
Continue reading “Durham Entered With Lofty Expectations. What Happened?”Where Things Stand: The Racist Skin Darkening Has Returned
Back during the 2020 Senate election in Georgia, the campaigns of the two soon-to-be-defeated GOP senators, Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, were both accused of digitally altering images of their Democratic opponents in negative campaign ads in racist and antisemitic ways.
Continue reading “Where Things Stand: The Racist Skin Darkening Has Returned”CA Judge Finds Trump Likely Lied To Court In Georgia Big Lie Case
President Trump knew that data supposedly showing voter fraud in the 2020 election was false, but signed a court document attesting to it regardless, a federal judge said on Wednesday.
Continue reading “CA Judge Finds Trump Likely Lied To Court In Georgia Big Lie Case”Lee Is Distancing Himself From Trump’s Big Lie Before Midterms. Here’s Why That Matters For Utah’s Latter-Day Saint Voters
This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news analysis. It was originally published at The Conversation.
U.S. Sen. Mike Lee is seeking reelection in Utah – a typically uneventful undertaking for an incumbent Republican in a state that hasn’t had a Democratic senator since 1977. But he faces a unique challenger: Evan McMullin.
The former CIA operative, investment banker and Republican policy adviser left the GOP in 2016 because of Donald Trump. McMullin then ran for president as an independent, styling himself as a principled conservative, and won 21% of Utahans’ votes.
Continue reading “Lee Is Distancing Himself From Trump’s Big Lie Before Midterms. Here’s Why That Matters For Utah’s Latter-Day Saint Voters”