SMART IS COOL DAY UPDATES
But YOU Don't Have To Be Told That - I Know From Your Readership That You Do!
-I want to start with a point of personal privilege and thank my fellow Substacker Carrie Kaufman, who has been recommending my Substack to her readers and helping me grow this little cyberpatch. I want to shout her out for the recs, thank her for her support here and on other social medias, and recommend that YOU now go to look at HER Substack, YOU'RE OVERTHINKING IT, and to listen to her reports on Nevada Current if you're in her neck of the woods!
-Now, on to today's Update - where, with two weeks to go until voting ends, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz continue to press to get out the vote everywhere and anywhere. Besides getting ready for another round of interview (NBC News tonight, a CNN Town Hall that should have been a debate were it not for the trembling mass of cowardice and goo of her opponent), her appearances are becoming what can only be described as star-studded. After Lizzo and Usher joined her over the weekend, tonight Barack Obama will appear in a Detroit rally with an introduction by Eminem, followed Thursday with a concert in GA (where Obama will join Kamala) headlined by one Bruce Springsteen - one of what is being touted as a series of concerts in the home stretch of Election 2024.
-But in what may be the most interesting booking, the Harris campaign also announced a Friday rally in Houston. For those unfamiliar with that city and recent Presidential elections, it is in the state of Texas, which has not voted for a Democrat since Jimmy Carter in 1976. And even though the chances of Harris breaking through there are not likely (although Biden only lost by 5.6% in 2020 - an election he won nationally), the rally has importance first to highlight the draconian abortion policies championed by TX MAGAGOP ogres Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton (and their head MAGAt, of course), but will also feature Colin Allred, who by most polls (if you believe them) is closing the gap on incumbent human wet fart Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Cancun) in what could be a pivotal race for Democrats to hold control of that chamber.
-In another intriguing bit of booking, Harris Veep candidate Tim Walz is headed to Kentucky (?!) for a fund-raiser in Louisville prior to heading to the hotly-contested swing state of North Carolina. The event is hosted by Gov. Andy Beshear, who himself was on at least the semi-final list of Vice Presidential candidates, but who continues to support Harris - unlike other candidates whose electeds are kind of fleeing and keeping distance from their candidate like he has a rank stench around him ...
-THAT candidate, of course, is Republican nominee REALLY Old Weird Convicted Felon Ex-President Trump (R-apist), fresh off a transparently phony and cringe-worthy electoral stunt in PA where he had an XXL-sized apron (ALLEGEDLY) tied on that bloated torso and stomach, feebly shook a batch of French fries around near a deep fryer, ineptly inserted said fries into containers, oversalted them, held the bag holding finished fries like a soiled diaper (you would think he had experience with that ...) and handed them out to fully-rehearsed followers through the drive-through of the restaurant that had been shut down for the stunt (and, perhaps coincidentally, had health violations assessed against it) all so he could pet his latest obsession: his belief that "KahMAAAHlaaah Harris" didn't actually work at a McDonald's when she was in college. While prepubescent MAGA "thought leader" Ben "WAP Is Disgusting - Why Are You Crying, Wife?" Shapiro seemed to believe the incident proved Trump's working-class bona fides, most Earth One observers noted Trump could not get a job at a Mickey D's thanks to his felony convictions.
-Meanwhile, as Trump continues to lurch and slur and doze with lower and lower wattage on appearances, what he spews continues to be scarier and scarier. It truly is no stretch to call Trump's closing rhetoric as total Fascist, threatening to delicense all networks who do not declare Trump has a bigger member than Arnold Palmer (ALLEGEDLY) (EYEROLL) (moves hands within half an inch of each other) and continuing to label all who oppose him, be they Democratic or former Republicans, "the enemy within" that may need to, at a minimum, be imprisoned - and Harris herself "lazy," "the worst," and "lazy as Hell" and "low IQ" and "slow" - all the projection ...
-Trump also continues to cancel appearances, though one big one (for him) is reportedly coming up this Sunday: a "rally" in Madison Square Garden in New York Ciy. While it is still unclear if the event has actually been booked, who is paying for the booking (Trump didn't even pay for the fries he handed out and faux-made in that McDonald's on Sunday), and who may appear (lots of liberal/progressive social media feeds have been helpfully circulating the link to get tickets - they're so naughty!), and even though the most recent New York state polling shows Harris approaching 60% in the state, the discussion at Team Trump is that Dear Leader has always wanted to play the Garden, so what he says shall be done for him. That the entire program eerily parallels an infamous 1939 Garden rally featuring the actual Nazi Party (and according to legend was attended by one Fred Trump, father of spawn Don) is being noted everywhere non-MAGA.
-Keeping with appearances, THIS JUST IN: The Trump campaign is touting an appearance on the Joe Rogan podcast to be coming between now and the election - an interesting move given Rogan's denunciation of Trump and refusal to endorse Trump. Harris has been negotiating for an appearance on Rogan's show, and the scuttlebutt is that a Trump appearance would all but guarantee a Harris appearance as well. We shall see ...
-THIS JUST (ALSO) IN: In what may be the best news you will get today, MAGA Mega-Trumper Rudy "Temple Grease" Giuliani has been ordered to turn over his Manhattan penthouse apartment and other expensive tchotchkes to court in GA as part of payment for his defaming of GA election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss. Rudy owes the mother and daughter $150 million in damages, and with his law license stripped away in a number of states thanks to his supporting of the January 6 insurrection, assets that can be used for restitution are dwindling along with Rudes' mental and economic state.
-Sad!
-THIS ALSO JUST IN: JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon has endorsed Kamala Harris.
-And, at this point over 14 million early votes have been cast. Democratic voters are turning in ballots at a far larger rate than MAGAGOP, particularly in the swing states of GA (where it is now estimated 25% of registered voters have turned their ballots in), PA, MI, and NE. One state where MAGAGOPers have an early edge is Nevada, which per NV election guru John Ralston rural Republicans have early voted in person in record numbers and, as of yesterday, were leading the very early early vote for the first time ever. Today's early numbers have closed the gap, but without a turnin lead from Las Vegas' Clark County, the well-respected Ralston warns about Democratic agita in its wake.
-Three words for those who are hitting even bigger stress levels - justifiably - for the next few days: TURNOUT, TURNOUT, TURNOUT! The Harris campaign is betting enthusiasm sparked by entering the race in July with what pretty much everyone believes is a superior get out the vote machine and the clearly-fading Trump himself will bring this home ... while the Trump campaign will continue to outrageously lie, let Trump's out-of-control id help motivate his (primarily white male voters of most ages) while disgusting enough moderates and Democrats to stay home, and likely try to get the Electoral College close enough to continue to screech ELECTION INTERMEDEFERENCE! to gain power through the courts or/and Congress. Voting and getting as many of your friends and relatives to vote is the cure!
-And, in Sportsball News, the NBA opens its season tonight with a bit of a gimmick appearance - but a cool one: the most famous modern father-and-son tandem in sports, Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey, Jr., will attend tonight's home opener in Los Angeles, where the Lakers' LeBron James opens the season with his son, Bronnie James, on the team - and if they play together at any point tonight or whenever during the season, it will be the first time in NBA history and the first time since the Griffeys played a game with the Seattle Mariners in 1990. Like I said, gimmicky ... but still kinda cool!
-On this date in 1962, John F. Kennedy revealed the presence of Soviet nuclear missiles on the island of Cuba, triggering a four-day diplomatic and military crisis most believe brought the world the closest to thermonuclear war than we ever had of have been. On this date in 1964, Jean-Paul Sartre became the first person to refuse a Nobel Prize. Also on this date in 1964, EMI Records declined to sign The High Numbers - who regrouped and got signed later with their new name, The Who. On this date in 2008, India launched its first lunar space probe - one that found water in the atmosphere of the Moon. On this date in 2010, WikiLeaks spilled the beans on previously classified documents relating to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. On this date in 2012, Lance Armstrong was stripped of his Tour de France championships because of doping.
-Debuts on this date: parachute jumping (1797), the carbon filament light bulb (1879), televised professional football (1939), NOW, VOYAGER (1942), American casualties in Vietnam (1957), the Highway Beautification Act (1965), NIGHT MOVES (1976), MAKE IT BIG (1984), Pearl Jam (1990), RED (2012).
-Happy Birthday to Franz Liszt, Sarah Bernhardt, Curly Howard, Jimmie Foxx, Joan Fontaine, Timothy Leary, Robert Rauschenberg, Bobby Seale, Christopher Lloyd, Derek Jacobi, Tony Roberts, Annette Funicello, Bobby Fuller, Catherine Deneuve, Jan de Bont, Greg Hawkes, Jeff Goldblum, Marc Shaiman, Bob Odenkirk, Brian Boitano, Ron Tugnutt, Shaggy, Shelby Lynne, Spike Jonze, Saffron Burrows, Ichiro Suzuki, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Brad Stevens, Robinson Cano, Zac Hanson, and Jonathan Lipnicki.
-Rest in Peace/Rest in Power to Paul Cezanne, John G. Shedd, Pablo Casals, Cleavon Little, Red Barber, Kingsley Amis, Mary Wickes, Soupy Sales, Russell Means, Jay Black, and Peter Scolari.
-Feed the Worms: Proto-MAGAt Governor Haley Barbour and would-be assassin Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme entered Earth on this date. Gangster Pretty Boy Floyd bought it on this date.
-Standup and alleged notorious joke thief Carlos Mencia was born on this date. You decide if he gets a Happy Birthday or if he Feeds the Worms.