NATIONAL HERMIT DAY UPDATES
Celebrate With Your Cat (It's Also National Cat Day!) While Blogging a Cat Picture (It's Also National Internet Day!) Eating A Bowl of Oatmeal (It's Also National Oatmeal Day!)
-Approximately 47 million votes have been cast so far this year, with the Democrat/Republican ratio still 42%-40%. Democrats who have been told that early voting will produce an advantage are using this as a way to feed anxiety, though the Harris campaign insists that this is actually a good ratio. Noting that there was likely going to be less early voting since there is no Covid lockdown to work around, Harris Campaign Chair Jen O'Malley Dillon explains their belief that Republicans voting now are core MAGAGOP voters and that it will result in fewer Election Day voters (which would be counter to what Dear Leader REALLY Old REALLY Weird Convicted Felon Ex-President Trump (R-apist) continually preaches), whereas the Harris GOTV effort will get more lower-propensity Democrats (perhaps as Independents) and disaffected GOP voters to bring Harris and Tim Walz home. Indeed, multiple reports indicate that the Harris campaign is very happy with the turnout so far, noting the massive early vote in battleground states (GA, MI, NC and PA have all broken records) is making some feel ... not cocky, but "bullish," about efforts.
-To that end, as Harris prepares her "closing argument" speech tonight, reports are that they have asked National Park rangers to expand capacity on The Ellipse in the National Mall so that up to 50,000 will be able to hear her. She will precede the speech with interviews in local battleground cities in PA, MI, and WI, and has also bought the first advertising to be displayed on the Las Vegas Sphere, where some reports indicate that is a state with lagging Democratic early vote turnout (though the Harris campaign seems confident they will dominate the Independent vote).
-As for Team Trump, while the news media breathlessly coos that their polling indicates Trump is in a better position to win today than in 2016 (where he lost the popular vote but eked out an Electoral College inside straight in the Midwest) or 2020 (where, contrary to continuous Trump spewing, Joe Biden won comfortably while running a Sun Belt triad of AZ/GA/NV), Trump campaign officials tell the newsletter Semafor that they are feeling "nervous" that they have "missed something" that will result in another Trump electoral loss, though of course the plans to dispute the election are well underway, as Trump has made two social media posts today disputing early voting in PA, which is must-win for him and perhaps a reflection that their internal polling is not good.
-Another indication that Trump may not be in as good a shape as he would like to purport: efforts to try to minimize the continued after-effects of the Trump closing argument, his Madison Square Garden ... uh ... "rally" ... on Sunday in which his "closing argument" was similar to a new line he is using in other campaign appearances: the United States is a garbage can and Trump is the guy to throw the trash in the compactor.
-Hysterical, I know, but as we ALL know, that rally drew deserved comparisons to an infamous 1939 MSG rally held by American Nazis (which was reportedly attended by one Fred Trump, aka Donnie's Biological Daddy).
-Speaker after speaker after speaker insulted Democrats and non-white-Christian-males, with an evangelical Trump speaker deriding Jewish Harris voters, washed-up racist woman abuser Hulk Hogan struggling to tear a shirt down, failsons Don Jr. and Eric "Eric" hysterically trying to win Dad's love by calling Trump "the builder of New York City," serial legal loser Alina Habba wearing a rhinestone jacket inscribed with MAGA (to "trigger Hillary Clinton," Habba said, proving MAGAts live in the past all the time), and bankrupted ex-lawyer Rudy Giuliani grotesquely claiming Palestinian children learn to kill at the age of two.
-Trump himself showed up for the rally (two hours late, of course) and made a little news by claiming in his patented infantile vocal pitch that he and lapdog House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Jay-EE-Zuz!, LA) have "a secret" about the election they will only reveal after November 6 (gee STEAL THE ELECTION what STEAL THE ELECTION do STEAL THE ELECTION you STEAL THE ELECTION think STEAL THE ELECTION that STEAL THE ELECTION is STEAL THE ELECTION?).
-But by now EVERYONE knows that the Sunday debacle is and continues to be headlined by the "joke" told by MAGA podcaster Tony "Kill Tony" Hinchcliffe, in which he warmed up the MAGA hordes by calling Puerto Rico "a floating island of garbage." You KNOW the line was being treated as a gaffe within even MAGAville by the fact that a number of Republican candidates, most prominently GOP Senate Campaign Chair Rick Scott (SkeletoR, FL) - himself in the middle of a potentially tight race against Debbie Muscarsel-Powell, looking to be FL's first female Hispanic Senator, in a state with over 1 million Puerto Ricans - attempted to denounce the joke while the MSG Hate-Fest spun on.
-Indeed, within an hour after the slur, Harris - who by chance was at a Puerto Rican restaurant in Philadelphia, in a state with over 450,000 Puerto Ricans - immediately ran an online ad touting her proposals for Puerto Rico. And a slew of Puerto Rican celebrities, starting with Bad Bunny (and his 450 million social media followers), began denouncing the joke and endorsing Harris.
-Bad Bunny has been joined by fellow Puerto Ricans Marc Anthony, Luis Fonsi, Ariana Grande, Jennifer Lopez, Ricky Martin, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Rita Moreno, and Zoe Saldana to all come out for Harris as a result of Sunday, with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez inviting her followers to copy and spread the clip to older Puerto Rican voters via the What's App program, which is popular for immigrant families for family chats.
-Even the Trump campaign hysterically tried to claim that Hinchcliffe's slur was not reflective of the campaign's feelings towards a voting population (50% voted in 2020) - an idea that should openly be scoffed at, and one Trump himself all but did in an appearance this morning where he simply claimed he "did not hear" the comment (though the joke was on Hinchliffe's TelePromPter and, according to The Bulwark, had a "joke" that would have used the C-word towards Harris removed, meaning the campaign event producers absolutely knew it was coming) but insisted the hate-fest was actually "full of love" - something he has also said about the January 6 insurrection.
-So ... yeah ...
-With voting began, so too are concerns about Trump's real plans to potentially disrupt Election Day and the post-election race. As noted, Trump is already beginning to carp about illegal voting taking place in PA (it isn't), and reports of simultaneous fires being lit in drop boxes in OR and WA destroying ballots are raising more fears (though in OR and WA, mail-in ballots are accompanied by a tracker system, so voters who do not see their ballots received will likely be able to get new ballots and "repair" their votes).
-There have also been reports of abusive behavior by MAGAts towards poll workers, featuring the arrest of a MAGA voter who assaulted a 69-year old poll worker after being told to take off his MAGA hat before voting (that is illegal nationally) and an elderly woman in NH going so far as to removing her MAGA shirt and voting wearing only a bra while telling poll workers to "kiss her c***" and "that's why I'm voting for Trump!" (which was circulated by MAGA Veep JD Vance who called the bat "a patriot").
-And if you noticed a certain humid stench out in the world today, there's a reason for that: human canker sore Steve Bannon ended his prison term for contempt of Congress this morning and will return to his hate-cast in time to rile up the hordes more for November 5 and beyond.
-Over 250,000 people have cancelled their Washington Post subscriptions, and four reporters have resigned the Post, in the wake of having an endorsement of Kamala Harris vetoed by Post owner Jeff Bezos. Initial reports claimed Bezos spiked the endorsement out of fear that a potential second Trump regime could mean retaliation in the form of cancelled Government contracts from Bezos' main gig, Amazon. Bezos himself wrote a cluttered 'defense' of the decision, insisting there was no quid pro quo between him and Trump while also arguing, in essence, that newspaper endorsements mean nothing so what's the big deal? NPR reports over 50,000 more cancellations came after the Bezos column. (Sad trombone.)
-Any hopes of an epic World Series confrontation between two mega-teams is poised to become a big dud, courtesy of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Yesterday they overcame Derek Jeter's opening pitch and a lame rap from Fat Joe (but awesome National Anthem from Leslie Odom, Jr.) to beat the Evil Empire New York Yankees 4-2 to take an all-but-miracle-insurmountable 3-0 Series lead. The game featured Dodgers' Freddie Freeman hit his fifth consecutive World Series home run (going back to his days with the Atlanta Braves), solidifying his case for being Series MVP. While theoretically the Yankees could win four in a row, the fact is it has been 54 years since a team falling behind a World Series 3-0 even won ONE game, much less four. Tune up the fat lady.
-Speaking of New York City, Sportsball-Haters are having a field day today. In addition to the Yankees' defeat, New York fans also saw the Giants get whacked on Monday Night Football by Pittsburgh 26-18, the New York Knicks spit up a 15-point second half lead at MSG to lose to Cleveland 110-104, and even the New York City Football Club lose 1-0 to Cincinnati in the first round of the MLS soccer playoffs. BOO-HOO, NEW YAWKERS (haw haw haw)!!!
-In closing this update, we will briefly return to the Trump hate-fest, not to rehash it, but to show you what can happen when an actual funny person confronts what happened. While the rally was taking place, the immortal Weird Al Yankovic observed the scene and, with a 2025 tour schedule, posted, "MY Madison Square Garden show will be MUCH funnier." When a poster commented "I'm sure you'll have a lot less Nazis at your show, too," Weird Al corrected him: "I think you meant to say 'a lot fuehrer.'"
-Beat it and eat it, Trump and company!
-On this date in 1929, Black Tuesday saw the New York Stock Exchange crash, creating the historical starting point of The Great Depression. On this date in 1956, Israel attacked Egypt in an attempt to control the Suez Canal and Sinai Peninsula. On this date in 1969, defendant Bobby Seale was gagged as part of the trial of the Chicago Eight. On this date in 1998, 77-year-old John Glenn returned to space as part of a flight on the Space Shuttle Discovery. And on this date in 2005, China ended its controversial one-child family policy.
-Debuts on this date: DON GIOVANNI (1787), the Red Cross (1863), the Republic of Turkey (1923), THE HUNTLEY-BRINKLEY REPORT (1956), THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MALCOLM X (1965), HAIR (1967), THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS (1993), LeBron James in the NBA (2003).
-Happy Birthday to Jean Giraudoux, Fanny Brice, Bill Mauldin, Dominick Dunne, Ralph Bakshi, Bob Ross, Denny Laine, Melba Moore, Peter Green, Richard Dreyfuss, Kate Jackson, Paul Orndorff, Denis Potvin, Lee Child, Kevin DuBrow, Dan Castellaneta, Randy Jackson, Rufus Sewell, Winona Ryder, Gabrielle Union, Tracee Ellis Ross, Andy Dalton, and Evan Fournier.
-Rest in Peace/Rest in Power to Sir Walter Raleigh, Joseph Pulitzer, Louis B. Mayer, Bill McKechnie, Duane Allman, Woody Herman, Vaughn Meader, Lloyd Bochner, Gerald Arpino, Robert Brustein, and today, Terri Garr.
-Feed the Worms: Joseph Goebbels, former HAMAS Yahya Sinwar, large penis toilet designer and one-time Trump Attorney General Matthew Whitaker entered Earth on this date. George McClelland and Leon Czolgosz bought it on this date.