Who were the members of Rudy's BLT team? Three names right in the center: John Solomon, Devin Nunes and Ron Johnson.

[Robert Scott Horton]

the girl of the hour

I think when q!Bad says that he wants to kill the president, or that he wants to overthrow q!Forever - he knows that President Forever and regular Forever are the same person. He knows.

When he says “I trust Forever, but not President Forever” what he means is “I trusted Forever when the power balance in our friendship was manageable and not ridiculously skewed to one side.”

What he means is “I don’t want to have to be worried about Forever throwing me in prison, and I liked my friendship with him better when I didn’t have to be concerned about that.”

What he means is “It was easier to trust a Forever without power, and I want to trust Forever again.”

civic duty

went to vote today. local elections, mostly uncontested.

it was so crowded, i did not expect that.

the man directly in front of me got mad when the people dispensing the ballots asked his name and then asked him to verify his address and date of birth. "That's personal information!" he exclaimed. "You have no right to ask me for that!"

"We have to verify your identity," the election worker said, stunned. "That's how this works."

"You're denying me my right to vote!" the man shouted.

"We-- have to figure out which voter you are," the election worker said. "I don't need to see ID or anything, i just need you to confirm for me which address you're at, and then which person by that name that resides at that address, so I can see if that matches our rolls, so I can make sure I'm dispensing a ballot to the right person."

"I was trained as an election worker!" the man shouted. "I know you have no right to demand personal information from me!"

"Well i can't give you a ballot if I can't verify which voter you are," the election worker said.

"I'm calling the cops!" the man shouted.

"By all means," the election worker said, "but please step outside to do so. I recommend you call the downtown cops, not just the emergency line, as they'll be more knowledgeable."

So the man went outside. I gave the workers my name, my address so they could find me, and confirmed my date of birth, since it seemed perfectly reasonable to me that often more than one person with the same name might reside at a particular address, and they gave me my ballot and I went and voted. When I went outside the man was still on the phone, yelling. "They have no right to demand personal information of me!"

That information is public record, my dude. And it's how they registered you to vote in the first place. And it's how you're organized in the voter rolls.

Bieda toto

atp i don’t trust anyone who’s read the bllk manga and not thought aNY of it (like not even one moment, one quote, one boy etc.) was fruity as hell

We know about the crimes and coverups because last year the media took Cyber Ninjas to court for access to their communications. The audit was funded with taxpayer dollars, they argued, so the public has a right to know what took place on their dime (the $150,000 budget ballooned to $5 million). In July 2022, a judge agreed with the people and ordered emails, texts, and voicemails turned over. CEO Logan balked at that order, so the judge slapped a $50,000 per day fine on Cyber Ninjas until the records were delivered. The Arizona Supreme Court upheld that ruling in July 2022, making the total today more than $27 million. We all know that “everything Trump touches dies,” so it follows that Cyber Ninjas went bankrupt and shut down after the Arizona circus ended, making Logan responsible for the $27 million. A month ago, though, Logan did turn over about 39,000 documents, which I wrote about, and that’s where we learned the operation was a partisan scam from the start. All the bullshit about “restoring election integrity” was just that—bullshit. Cyber Ninjas and Senate Republicans intended to overturn Biden’s slim Arizona victory (about 10,000 votes) by finding fraud, and if they couldn’t find it they’d invent it—probably something they should keep to themselves. Before handing over thousands of emails, texts, and voicemails, Logan reviewed and edited them, removing entire conversations (I envision Nixon hunkered down with his tapes, redacting whole days). According to tech experts who’ve examined the Cyber Ninjas’ releases, “Of 2,823 redacted messages, 2,159 involve people in the "Stop the Steal" movement.” That’s like Nixon erasing the Ehrlichman-Haldeman conversation immediately after the Watergate burglary (which he did). Back to 2023, that’s more than two thousand contacts with Q jerks, militia goobers, gun huggers, right-wing funders, insurrectionists, and their partners in elected office—Gosar and Biggs perhaps? Just askin’ (hope others at DOJ are too). It gets worse: In addition to deleting important sections in the transcripts he did release, Logan is still holding on to thousands of other texts and emails that he claims are privileged.

kind of glad I went with the whole 'ghosts aren't real' thing in htb au because I do not want to explore how pissed off the real Cesar would be to see some fucking alternate stumbling around in his weirdly non-aging body making, frankly, terrible life decisions lmao

Listen, sometimes in life you’ve just gotta ignore canon, and even certain headcanons/AUs you don’t like or agree with and come up with your own/a version of the thing you like. As a form of self-care. This is a moral I live by, I think anyone who knows me knows at this point.

But for all that is good and decent in the world, you still absolutely need to be respectful towards others, even if what they made does not gel with you, personally. Especially if they’re the original creator(s) of the original, canon work.

Learning how to be comfortable with being uncomfortable is important. I'm genuinely not okay when I hear, see, and research more about the genocide happening in Gaza, the history of Israel's founding, and its terroristic actions. It is important for me to know.

Taking short breaks (usually a couple of hours or so) does help when things get too much. Then, I return and continue engaging with reblogs on Palestine.

I really don't know what else to say, but this genocide must end. All genocides must end and must never happen again. Keep talking about Palestine, Armenia, Congo, and Sudan! Keep protesting! Keep fighting!

What is important now is to be as loud as you can be! Raise ruckus! Make your voice unavoidable! Be as annoying as possible! Do not let your representatives ignore this!

"Winner printed the document – labeled 'TOP SECRET' – that explained how...

"Russian military intelligence officials hacked at least one supplier of voting software and tried to break into more than 100 local election systems before the polls closed in 2016."

Reality Winner did years in prison not for slander or lying, nope, we see that liars get to stay in congress and have news channels, in the USA lying is never a crime unless you're under oath...slander or libel is a tort (i.e. grounds for a lawsuit) but never a jailable offense.

Reality Winner was imprisoned for years because she told the truth, that Trump and Russia hacked election machines and forged the vote total for the 2016 election, it wasn't just some bad facebook memes via cambridge analytica, they literally stole the votes needed, Trump was asking for that help again in 2020 but did not receive it

Again, for the record, Dubya stole his election via a stacked supreme court. Trump also stole his election via his friends in the KGB.

Crisis averted!

June 28, 2023

ROBERT B. HUBBELL

JUN 28, 2023

          The Supreme Court dealt a fatal blow to the “Independent State Legislature” theory in a surprise ruling in Moore v. Harper on Tuesday. Although the holding in the case was narrow, the reasoning was broad enough to ensure the demise of a theory that would have granted state legislatures nearly unbounded power in federal elections. Consequently, state legislators must abide by the will of the people in congressional and presidential elections.

The ruling is the most consequential and positive development for democracy since the January 6th insurrection—perhaps since the Civil War. Or, as Ian Millhiser put it, “The Supreme Court decides not to destroy democracy in the United States.”

          There is plenty of excellent commentary analyzing the ruling, which I cite below. But I would like to step back to view Moore v. Harper in the broader context of efforts to repair the damage of January 6th and prevent future recurrences. Moore v. Harper is an unexpected but powerful coda to a series of efforts to right the ship of democracy after it nearly foundered on January 6th. (Apologies for the mixed metaphor, but you get the point.)

          The fake electors plot and assault on the Capitol were complementary efforts in the broader plot to overturn the 2020 election. That plot began with two Eastman memos that outlined a plan to “create a stalemate” in Congress when counting electoral ballots “that would give the state legislatures more time to weigh in to formally support the alternate slate of electors.” [Eastman Memo 1.]

          Eastman also suggested that disputes over competing slates of electors would create a delay during which state legislatures could appoint an alternate slate of electors (i.e., the fake electors):

“State legislatures [would] convene, order a comprehensive audit/investigation of the election returns in their states, and then determine whether the slate of electors initially certified is valid, or whether the alternative slate of electors should be certified by the legislature, exercise authority it has directly from Article II and also from 3 U.S.C. § 2. “ [Memo II.]

          In short, the fake electors plot was predicated on the notion that Mike Pence would “delay” the count of ballots because of competing slates of electors. When Pence declared he would not grant that delay, Trump incited his followers to assault the Capitol to create the necessary delay by force.

          That is the pith of the Eastman coup scheme: That state legislatures are free-floating entities with “plenary power” to appoint presidential electors without regard to the prior selection of electors by popular vote.

          There was more to the coup plot than outlined above, but those are the essential elements. Eastman (and Trump) were positing non-existent ambiguities in the 12th Amendment and Electoral Count Act relating to the power of state legislatures, the appointment of electors, the role of the Vice President, and the handling of objections to the count of electoral ballots. The attempted coup was thus based on imagined ambiguities and a willingness to resort to violence to derail the count of electoral ballots.

          In the aftermath of January 6th, there was a palpable fear that there would be a repeat of January 6th in the 2024 presidential election—this time with GOP state legislatures having more time to line up alternate slates of electors to support Trump if he loses in swing states.

          But several developments after January 6th have made the recurrence of a similar attempted coup unlikely to the point of impossibility.

          First, to its great credit, Congress passed the Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act of 2022, which eliminated even the imagined ambiguities posited by Eastman.

          For example, the Act clarified that states must submit a single, conclusive slate of electors appointed according to rules in effect on Election Day. The Act clarifies that the role of the Vice President is ministerial with no power to resolve or rule upon objections. It raised the threshold for objections from two members of Congress to 20% of each chamber. Finally, the Act removed the ability of states to declare a “failed election”—a possibility under the old Electoral Count Act, which permitted legislatures to determine a new method for selecting electors.

          The Department of Justice has charged more than a thousand defendants with crimes arising from the assault on the Capitol. The attractiveness of violence in aid of Trump's conspiracy theories has diminished greatly—as evidenced by the sparse crowds that responded to his indictments in Manhattan and Florida. And the DOJ it is reportedly investigating John Eastman, Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump, and several fake electors for their effort to defraud the US by submitting false certificates to the National Archives claiming to be duly appointed electors.

          The January 6th Commission exposed the fake elector scheme to the harsh light of public scrutiny. Most of the participants in the scheme have since taken the position that they were “just joshing” and weren’t really claiming to be the true electors. John Eastman is currently defending a proceeding by the California State Bar to revoke his license to practice law. Rudy Giuliani has lost his right to practice law in New York and D.C.

          Even without today’s ruling in Moore v. Harper, the Electoral Count Reform Act and the investigations, prosecutions, and license revocations provide a powerful disincentive to attempt a re-run of the fake electors scheme in 2024. But Moore v. Harper eliminated any doubt about the viability of the Independent State Legislature theory. In short, state legislatures are not autonomous bodies with independent power to elect the president. Or, as Chief Justice Roberts put it,

“Legislatures, the Framers recognized, “are the mere creatures of the State Constitutions, and cannot be greater than their creators.”

          The actual holding in Moore v. Harper was limited to the question of whether state courts could review the actions of state legislatures when setting the “time, place, and manner” of federal elections. In concluding that state legislatures are subject to review by state courts, Chief Justice Roberts wrote an extensive analysis of the Court’s previous rejections of the Independent State Legislature theory—demonstrating that the ISL theory has never been accepted in any fashion by the Court.

          Indeed, Roberts’s analysis is so convicting, it causes one to wonder why the Supreme Court granted review of the case in the first instance.  No matter. The ISL theory is dead and will not be resurrected after Roberts’s definitive takedown.

          As always, I recommend the analyses by Ian Millhiser in Vox, The Supreme Court hands down a big victory for democracy — with one caveat — in Moore v. Harper, and Mark Joseph Stern in Slate, John Roberts has wrested back control of the Supreme Court.

          Some commentators are bemoaning the fact that Roberts reserved the right of the federal courts to review state court decisions interpreting state law in narrow circumstances. (That is what happened in Bush v. Gore.) But the exception applies only when state courts “arrogate to themselves the power vested in state legislatures to regulate federal elections.” But that standard does not alter the status quo, so we should not let that fact spoil the victory in Moore v. Harper.

          So, here’s my point: The combined effect of Moore v. Harper, the Electoral Count Reform Act, the DOJ prosecutions, state bar license revocation hearings, and the January 6th hearings make a repeat of the fake electors or Independent State Legislature coup attempts impossible. Of course, there are other ways to steal an election (and the GOP will no doubt try), but the opinion in Moore v. Harper suggests that a majority of the Court is committed to ensuring that the will of the people is heard in presidential elections. That is a good result on many levels, and everyone should heave a sigh of relief today.

Speaking of ways to steal an election . . . .

          Running a third-party candidate in a presidential election does not amount to “stealing” an election if that candidate is a good-faith contestant for the job. But if the third-party candidate—like No Labels—is a shill who exists only to siphon votes from one candidate, the arrangement is deceptive at best, fraudulent at worst.

But what about a situation in which a candidate challenging an incumbent president for their party’s nomination is supported by the incumbent’s opponent? That may be the situation with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. That is the disturbing possibility raised in a Rolling Stone article, RFK Jr. Super PAC Has Ties to Marjorie Taylor Greene, George Santos. Per Rolling Stone, RFK’s PAC is run by the same management team that ran PACs for Marjorie Taylor Greene, George Santos, and Herschel Walker.

          The fact that RFK’s PAC is run by the same management team used by Marjorie Taylor Greene is not conclusive evidence that RFK is a shill for Trump, but it seems highly unlikely that a good-faith candidate would use a management team with ties to MAGA extremists. The whole thing stinks.

Robert B. Hubbell Newsletter

It is both iconic and objectively funny that George Santos scammed a bunch of republicans and then spent their money on botox and onlyfans.

I need life to slow the fuck down bc my skin is starting to hurt real bad from all this picking :/

There are reports that Trump's last chief of staff, Mark Meadows, has been granted immunity by Special Counsel Jack Smith to give evidence against his former boss.

Immunity is the biggest favor a prosecutor can grant to a witness who would otherwise be in legal peril. And it's not something that is dispensed lightly. Jack Smith must know that Meadows's testimony would be deeply implicating for Trump.

This is terrible news for Trump. Meadows was around Trump during his final months in office when Trump and his cronies were trying to illegally derail the election of Joe Biden.

The granting of immunity in a federal case has not been the only bad legal news for Trump in recent days.

Jenna Ellis became the third former Trump lawyer to plead guilty in the Georgia election tampering case.

Jenna Ellis becomes latest Trump lawyer to plead guilty over efforts to overturn Georgia’s election

And then there is the New York civil fraud trial of Trump. It was not a good time for The Donald in court.

Trump glowers as Cohen dishes

A few more days like this and Trump may call Putin to request a Russian submarine to sail to Mar-a-Lago to rescue him from a likely prison sentence.

Hey I got news that Katie Slobbs is already trying to rig the next election by Forcing every county in the state to not hand count ballots and she is threatening them is prosecution if they don’t and we know a governor doesn’t have that power but they give her that power because they cave into her demands! I just pray that she doesn’t get what she wants this time and she is as intimidating as a cockroach Kim Jong Un is more threatening than her

Mr. Trump why are you on tumblr?