As always,Thom, your Hidden History book series are Treasure's All, and should be in every classroom in America. Terrific excerpt this morning ☕ and will reStack ASAP 💯👍❄️🌲⛄
The only defense against voter suppression is voter diligence.
RED-state vote rigging is not new. The GOP will do anything it can to win - including vote suppression. Nevertheless, the voters themselves often enable the provisional ballot scam by not showing up to vote with sufficient proof of registration - their voter registration card and picture ID like a drivers license. Low diligence seems to be more common among Democrats - especially among lower-income voters. Is the Blue party reminding voters to bring necessary IDs to vote as part of their canvassing? Unlikely.
Being in my late 70s, I qualify to register for automatic vote-by-mail in RED Florida. The year Trump won, my ballot was rejected because somebody arbitrarily decided my signature on the envelope did not match the one on my registration. I had to submit a digital image of the front and back of my military ID for my vote to be counted. Fortunately, I had enough time to do that before voting day. These days, I make sure to vote the day I get the ballot just in case it is rejected. I am also more diligent about penmanship when sealing the envelope. How many mailed votes are rejected over such trivia when there is insufficient time to appeal? Lots, I bet.
Tom I live in Washington State, and my signature varies almost every time I write it, but it has never been rejected by the county elections committee, because Washington state is not actively seeking to find excuses to reject voters, especially if they are Democrats. sure glad that I don't live in Florida. I can't understand why anyone does these days, with hurricanes, gators, pythons, skeeters and an oppressive fascist regime.
Here on the Central Florida barrier islands (aka beaches), it is almost always nice outside year-round. That is why we are a retiree and tourist mecca. The Atlantic also keeps us about 5 degrees cooler than the mainland in summer and the Gulf Stream keeps temps 5 degrees warmer in winter. It's 72F today with bright sunny skies. Is the temp in Washington today still below freezing?
As for hurricanes and wild animals, it depends on where in the 3rd-largest state one lives. We chose to live here after years of careful research. Besides nice weather, the cost of living in Florida is a relative bargain. Our property taxes are 1/3 of what we paid in Bethesda before retirement. Electric, water & waste is much lower-cost too. Property Insurance is outrageous, but only if you need storm damage coverage. The way our house is constructed, we don't.
Hurricanes can be an annoyance (1 about every 3 years) but historically when tropical storms arrive here they are spent. We were right in Milton's path. We got a 25kt wind and light rain. One is only vulnerable to hurricanes if one lives in a wood frame house with shingle roofs sitting in a flood plain or on a beach near sea level. Light shingle roofs blow off or crunch under fallen trees and power poles. They also catch fire.
Where we live, houses are generally concrete with heavy tile roofs that do not blow off in storms and do not catch fire either. All our doors and windows are hurricane-proof-certified glass and bolted to the concrete walls. Houses are 5 meters above the beach flood plain and engineered for flood control. The ocean bed is such that tsunamis are non-existent. All electric and internet service to homes is underground and served from power poles on the main highway that are 55ft-tall concrete-aluminum - impervious to hurricane winds and fallen trees. I could not help but notice from the MSM that Washington gets snow, floods, and wildfires every year.
Regarding local fauna, we have no problems with pythons and alligators because the Intercoastal Waterway between us and the mainland is too brackish for them to swim in. Also, wild cats cannot swim 2 miles to get here. Mosquitos cannot fly in our ocean breeze, so they all just stay 2 miles away on the mainland too. Larger insects are gobbled up by chameleons and our industrial-strength birds.
For retirees, DeSantis's fascist politics is a minor annoyance. We have no kids and are too old to need abortions and the low quality of Florida public schools is irrelevant. Gaetz, DeSantis, et al. are mostly Panhandle residents over 300 miles from us. Immigration is mostly upper-income retirees; not Southern Hemisphere refugees. Immigration is making Florida more purple than the MSM seems to notice. Lastly, we have friends visiting us from Oregon and Washington every winter, so there must be something about your home state that makes Florida seem attractive enough to fly or drive so far to get here. :-)
Wow,sounds like Paradise, If one wanted to move in,what would it take, to buy a house like yours?
As regards Washington state, tis true about floods, and fires, but it all depends on where you live. I lived 17 years in Redmond, MS home base, and was never bothered by any of it.
Where I live now, I am also untouched, the county population is 10,000 most of us live rural, up winding dirt roads.. Winters are pretty wet, summers pretty dry, last winder the temp fell to 19 degrees for one day, not even a whole day, snowed twice, maximum six inches on the roof of the car, and melted away in a couple of days. No Fires no floods here. Peaceful and quiet, biggest problem is competing with the deer for the plums on the tree. And I feed a family of fox and raccoons, left over cat food and scraps.
Towards evening deer will grouse on the lawn. There is a pond on my property which is a watering hole for wildlife, and a marsh I can see from the living room window, surround properties are seasonal homes to Canada geese,Trumpeter Swans and ducks.,can watch them all day, learning to fly in formation
Truth is that I wouldn't live next to the ocean, in the mountains or near a river, which is where people with too much money and too little commonsense build their trophy homes..
Before we retired to Happilyeverafter, we lived in Bethesda in the deep woods of Carderock. The neighborhood was crawling with deer, foxes, owls, eagles, etc. - probably like where you live. We had no backyard, just trees and underbrush cascading down into a small valley. Then one day, a hurricane hit DC, and a big tree toppled against our wood-frame domicile. That is when I got woods woke.
We too live in a small town of about 9,000. We have birds that can look you in the eye like Herons, Egrets, Pelicans, and Cranes. Turtles lay eggs in our backyard every season. To move to any Florida paradise on the Atlantic Coast today would cost over $1M. I bought our house during the Great Recession for way less than that (Florida was the epicenter of the crash).
Sounds like paradise Tom. The town has 2,700 people, I live outside of town. If I could run, I could run a mile by 5 round trips on my driveway, from my house to the main road is 4/10ths of a mile of dirt road. We've got eagles , vultures and hawks. Like you I can step outside on my porch and see constellations.
I have 5 acres, 5 buildings which I paid $240,000 for in 2001, I just got my tax appraisl, $640,000 and I have a great view, but nothing at like yours.
We live in in a box in Baghdad By the Sea, the mystery capital of the world. Foreign and domestic intrigue. Peacock capitol. Ferral cats, chickens. We have more in common with Manhattan than paradise. They paved paradise.
We have more immigrants than natives. Hear more foreign languages than English on the streets and even my elevator.
I get involved in national GOTV phone banking. It's in the script of Dem campaigns to remind voters what ID is needed for their state
But there is also now the Vigilante voting thing Rs dreamed up. Anybody can challenge anyone's ballot. Nauseating the numbers of "challenged" Dem ballots probably got tossed in TX, and not sure whether every state. But I did see a "Challenge this vote" box on top of my ballot this year - California. A first. See https://gregpalast.com.
I am going off topic, for something more relevant and important. Damascus has fallen to the "rebels" the rebels are supposedly anti Asad fighters, but they are also HTS, and HTS is current rebranding of al Qaeda, which is Sunni, Asad and his regime are Shia of the Alawite sect. Hezbollah is Shia, and Iran has been using Syria as a staging point, training ground and weapons depot.
Putin has been an ally and supporter of Asad.
What this means for the Hezbollah-Iran nexus and the conflict with Israel, is a question mark, but it does mean that Putin has lost a crucial port, the Tartus Naval base on the Mediterranean
Syria also has a seaport on the Mediterranean, Latakia, which can also be denied the Russians, hence the Iranians
Iran proposed a Black Sea corridor that runs from Southern Iran to Armenia which has ports on the Black Sea. Russia has a miltary base inGyumri, Armenia, which is near the Turkish Georgian border
Persian Gulf—Black Sea corridor is a transport and transit corridor project proposed and created by Iran.[1] The corridor project starts from the Persian Gulf and southern Iran, heads north across the country, and then continues to Armenia,[2] from where it reaches the Georgian ports of Poti and Batumi in the Black Sea.
For those paying attention, Russia has interfered in the Georgian elections and politics and has swung Georgia away from the EU and ostensibly to BRICS. And for good reason (strategically) because by controlling Georgia, Iran has access to the Black Sea and Russia has access to the Gulf of Arabia.
There is some long range geopolitical gaming going on.
Which was why the “conquest” of the United States and the crippling of our military is so important to Russia. Putin said that he expected the quid pro quo from Trump for helping to get him elected. RT the Russian version of Fox is saying that they are thrilled with Trump’s cabinet picks.
Right you are Kay. If the new regime threatens the Russian naval base at Tarsus, you can expect a full scale effort by Russia, maybe using Iran and Armenia.
Iraq and Syria share a border, Iran, Iraq are majority Shia,in fact they are Shia ruled.
The only tension between Iraq and Iran are ethnic or racial. Iraq is Arab, Iran is well Aryan (that is what the word Iran means). The Iranians have a 1400 year disdain for what they consider lizard eating Arabs. Saddam used that ethnic hostility in his war with Iran.
Look for an Iran Iraq detente, increasing pressure to expel what residual force that America has in Iraq, and there is already movement in that direction.
Reagan basically created the Taliban, and al Qaeda. Netanyahu basically created HAMAS
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham,or HTS. HTS’ precursor organization, Jabhat al-Nusra, was formed in Syria in 2011 as an al-Qaeda affiliate in opposition to Assad, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank. However, in July 2016, Jabhat al-Nusra dissolved and formally severed its public ties with al-Qaeda, and the re-formed group eventually merged with others in the region to establish HTS in January 2017..
Al Qaeda, HTS are Sunni, Iran, Asad are Shia,Iraq is Shia dominated, While Bashar Asad is Shia (Alawite) the population is Sunni.
America will become a Russian dependency, so long as the oligarchs like Musk,have a free hand to rape the economy and people.
This was why 14.3 Amendment was added after the Civil War. It’s ridiculous to have left traitors in the “halls of power” of the United States - and that includes the Supreme Court.
SCOTUS made its immunity ruling before Trump took office. They did it so Trump could run, betting that the Biden/Harris Administration didn’t have the guts to do anything. So far, the Russian/Chinese backed billionaires have been correct in their gamble. No backbone from the Democrats.
No allegiance to the oath to protect and Defend the Constitution of the United States from all enemies foreign and domestic - so help me God.
The enemy is about to seize control of the United States and make a joke of our Constitution.
That enemy has NO allegiance to the Almighty - they lied their asses off to the American people and threw denied legitimate voters their vote.
Other countries have put stop to the theft of their democracy.
But the most powerful and oldest democracy in the world is afraid to stand up to this enemy backed overthrow of our government.
This Executive Branch so far has shown no willingness to act to protect the military who risked their lives to protect it. No willingness to act to honor the voters who came out to vote, only to have their votes ignored. No willingness to protect the vulnerabilities who were deceived my billionaires and enemy trolls allowed to spew lies to our population without fear of reprisal from our cyber security forces.
The United States was left unprotected to be conquered and looted while our “protectors” worked through a judiciary that they KNEW was already corrupted by the adversary.
We all face a life review after we die.
How will the life review go for the members of the Executive Branch that failed to honor their oath to God by protecting the Constitution of the United States from these enemies, both domestic and foreign.
Who really is willing to stand up for the Almighty when the demons are at the gate?
President Biden is an “old man”. He can go out as the President who saved the United States or as the one who let it fall.
Then Joe Biden the man can live that life review after he dies.
I am a messenger and a soldier who has seen the other side. I have been writing about this since 2008, before the FBI showed up at my place because of a dangerous incident.
This IS a Spiritual war. So far, the liars and “thieves” as described in John 10 have been allowed to take the victories.
Jesus said don’t make an oath - but if you do - you better honor that oath!!!!
God said “Vengeance is Mine and My Vengeance lasts for All Eternity”
Kay, no offense but I don't believe in an accounting after death, we are no different than the animals we slaughter for food. This is it. the myth of life after death, if you are good and obedient little slaves, is a fiction to keep us in line and obedient to our shepherds. The job of a shepherd is to tend the flock until it is time for the fleecing and slaughter and I don't beguile or lie to myself with the comforting thought that they will get theirs after they are dead and gone.
An oath to a god, and there are so many and so little time, it is arrogant to assume that another persons god is your god. I was in a meeting where one attendee stated that his higher power was the ceiling fan.
However an oath is an oath, and oaths to some folk, like Trump and his cult of Christian fascists, is just words, like you they claim obedience to their version of god. God is another name for a sock puppet., Know the person know the god. The god of a decent human, loving person is a decent, humane, loving god. The god of a selfish, greedy, racist, intolerant sociopath is a selfish, greedy, racist, intolerant sociopath.
I know that you understand the difference.
One Question, You said that the oldest democracy in the world is unable to stand up to this enemy backed overthrow of our government?
I assume you mean the government of the United States is unable to stand up to the enemy backed overthrow of the United States.
Since government in a democracy, reflects the will of the people, then the will of the people is Russo Hungarian style government. That is the peril of a democracy, it contains the seeds of it's destruction. The freedoms it provides are used to destroy it.
People do not appreciate what they have, until they lose it.
This is indeed very threatening for Israel. And for Jewish people everywhere. As are all the Islamic Jihad groups. Indeed these are terrorists who are no friends of Christians either. And as this fight has denonstrated, neither Sunni nor Shia is a friend of those who practice the other Muslim system. I say system, because the Quran speaks of politics not just religion.
I contacted several people across Florida to see how many lawyers were there to protect voters against white trash thugs who were there to harass. Only one lawyer was reported,she was arrested on resisting charges and later quickly released. Who were there were cops who were chummy with the organized thuggish trash. One reported that the good ole boys were leering over the voters at the booths. When a voter complained, he was told "they're only making sure there was no cheating." This in this year. They should have PAID 'anything-for-buck' lawyers to BE there, unlike the many principled lawyers who showed up in principle because then lawyers, living up to their "infamy" during the infamously "communist hippie days", gave a shit about democracy.
Here's another reason tRump did NOT win the past election. Why Harris decided to concede while the vote was still being counted is a mystery. Certainly Biden, Harris/ Waltz owes us an explanation. John Spoonamore, an expert in this field, said the vote count didn't add up. He suggested a hand recount. It's outrageous to think Gore and Harris gave up without a whimper. DJT is still saying he won the last election and took it to the SC.
Thom, the really intensionally did this too. The 92 year old lady can be purged then well what can and does happen to the rest of us. We really just want to vote and stand up for democracy. I have had time to reflect on things and without a just system for all of us is in jeopardy. Captain my Captain thanks again for letting me understand that it really does need to be about just voting and also understanding you have to vote for the things you truly value the most. Oligarchy, Captain was not on my list. Fair and square would be great. Thom, thanks for pointing these things out. We need to do something. Oligarchy not so much. The thing is Thom warned us this could happen. History shows us and tells us too Thom. America
Excellent info and thanks as always, @Thom Hartmann. I'm glad to see both a spotlight on provisional ballots, and your note on numbers of Dem votes lost through this scurrilous practice - and others - uncovered by Greg Palast.
In light of your excerpt here, and some of the terrific notes in this thread, I'd like to mention a thread on X I saw today, Dec. 8. In short, hold your horses, guys. We may in fact see a pushback from Biden-Harris. And it will be a backfire for trump, using his own Sept 2018 ExecOder, which President Biden renewed this September.
This is where California procedures should be adopted nationwide (I'm sure Trump will do that right away). Here we can "cure" ballots. The County elections officials tell the campaigns the names of voters whose ballots had an error--usually the signature was missing or didn't match
their DL signature. Then we volunteers go out, and one by one, knock on people's doors; they sign an affidavit saying that is their signature, then the election official in a few days tells us if it is corrected . We are persistent. Sometimes it would take me all day to get 7 signatures. I'd wait around their neighborhoods until they came home.
We had great success in CA-13. We had targeted this red seat all year. Grey lost by only 500 votes last time. This time he was losing on election day and for weeks after that. (This is very red Central Valley). Then our "cured ballots started coming in and he WON by 127 votes!!
Thank you for this Tom! Speaking of hypervigilance: do you know of a Substack about the hacking of the last election following Elon Musk's harvesting of names and addresses with his million dollar offer? This person--and I can't find where I read it, said that the number of "bullet ballots" surpassed any in previous elections. These are ballots where only one name (Trump) was checked, and there were no other votes for other lesser positions.
According to the writer, who specializes in hacking issues, usually the number of bullet ballots in an election are something like .01% (I'm sorry, I'm guessing the number, but it was something like that). And in 2024, there were bullet ballots much higher in swing states, or in some cases, in specific counties that usually vote Democratic. One number I seem to remember was something like 11%.
The writer said in conclusion that only Kamala Harris could challenge these and demand a hand recount and the first deadline for one state was the Friday before Thanksgiving.
Clearly, there's not going to be a challenge. But clearly also, if this was the case, it will be imperative to figure out how to track Musk's shenanigans, which will likely be even more sophisticated in two years.
As always,Thom, your Hidden History book series are Treasure's All, and should be in every classroom in America. Terrific excerpt this morning ☕ and will reStack ASAP 💯👍❄️🌲⛄
The only defense against voter suppression is voter diligence.
RED-state vote rigging is not new. The GOP will do anything it can to win - including vote suppression. Nevertheless, the voters themselves often enable the provisional ballot scam by not showing up to vote with sufficient proof of registration - their voter registration card and picture ID like a drivers license. Low diligence seems to be more common among Democrats - especially among lower-income voters. Is the Blue party reminding voters to bring necessary IDs to vote as part of their canvassing? Unlikely.
Being in my late 70s, I qualify to register for automatic vote-by-mail in RED Florida. The year Trump won, my ballot was rejected because somebody arbitrarily decided my signature on the envelope did not match the one on my registration. I had to submit a digital image of the front and back of my military ID for my vote to be counted. Fortunately, I had enough time to do that before voting day. These days, I make sure to vote the day I get the ballot just in case it is rejected. I am also more diligent about penmanship when sealing the envelope. How many mailed votes are rejected over such trivia when there is insufficient time to appeal? Lots, I bet.
Tom I live in Washington State, and my signature varies almost every time I write it, but it has never been rejected by the county elections committee, because Washington state is not actively seeking to find excuses to reject voters, especially if they are Democrats. sure glad that I don't live in Florida. I can't understand why anyone does these days, with hurricanes, gators, pythons, skeeters and an oppressive fascist regime.
Here on the Central Florida barrier islands (aka beaches), it is almost always nice outside year-round. That is why we are a retiree and tourist mecca. The Atlantic also keeps us about 5 degrees cooler than the mainland in summer and the Gulf Stream keeps temps 5 degrees warmer in winter. It's 72F today with bright sunny skies. Is the temp in Washington today still below freezing?
As for hurricanes and wild animals, it depends on where in the 3rd-largest state one lives. We chose to live here after years of careful research. Besides nice weather, the cost of living in Florida is a relative bargain. Our property taxes are 1/3 of what we paid in Bethesda before retirement. Electric, water & waste is much lower-cost too. Property Insurance is outrageous, but only if you need storm damage coverage. The way our house is constructed, we don't.
Hurricanes can be an annoyance (1 about every 3 years) but historically when tropical storms arrive here they are spent. We were right in Milton's path. We got a 25kt wind and light rain. One is only vulnerable to hurricanes if one lives in a wood frame house with shingle roofs sitting in a flood plain or on a beach near sea level. Light shingle roofs blow off or crunch under fallen trees and power poles. They also catch fire.
Where we live, houses are generally concrete with heavy tile roofs that do not blow off in storms and do not catch fire either. All our doors and windows are hurricane-proof-certified glass and bolted to the concrete walls. Houses are 5 meters above the beach flood plain and engineered for flood control. The ocean bed is such that tsunamis are non-existent. All electric and internet service to homes is underground and served from power poles on the main highway that are 55ft-tall concrete-aluminum - impervious to hurricane winds and fallen trees. I could not help but notice from the MSM that Washington gets snow, floods, and wildfires every year.
Regarding local fauna, we have no problems with pythons and alligators because the Intercoastal Waterway between us and the mainland is too brackish for them to swim in. Also, wild cats cannot swim 2 miles to get here. Mosquitos cannot fly in our ocean breeze, so they all just stay 2 miles away on the mainland too. Larger insects are gobbled up by chameleons and our industrial-strength birds.
For retirees, DeSantis's fascist politics is a minor annoyance. We have no kids and are too old to need abortions and the low quality of Florida public schools is irrelevant. Gaetz, DeSantis, et al. are mostly Panhandle residents over 300 miles from us. Immigration is mostly upper-income retirees; not Southern Hemisphere refugees. Immigration is making Florida more purple than the MSM seems to notice. Lastly, we have friends visiting us from Oregon and Washington every winter, so there must be something about your home state that makes Florida seem attractive enough to fly or drive so far to get here. :-)
Wow,sounds like Paradise, If one wanted to move in,what would it take, to buy a house like yours?
As regards Washington state, tis true about floods, and fires, but it all depends on where you live. I lived 17 years in Redmond, MS home base, and was never bothered by any of it.
Where I live now, I am also untouched, the county population is 10,000 most of us live rural, up winding dirt roads.. Winters are pretty wet, summers pretty dry, last winder the temp fell to 19 degrees for one day, not even a whole day, snowed twice, maximum six inches on the roof of the car, and melted away in a couple of days. No Fires no floods here. Peaceful and quiet, biggest problem is competing with the deer for the plums on the tree. And I feed a family of fox and raccoons, left over cat food and scraps.
Towards evening deer will grouse on the lawn. There is a pond on my property which is a watering hole for wildlife, and a marsh I can see from the living room window, surround properties are seasonal homes to Canada geese,Trumpeter Swans and ducks.,can watch them all day, learning to fly in formation
Truth is that I wouldn't live next to the ocean, in the mountains or near a river, which is where people with too much money and too little commonsense build their trophy homes..
Before we retired to Happilyeverafter, we lived in Bethesda in the deep woods of Carderock. The neighborhood was crawling with deer, foxes, owls, eagles, etc. - probably like where you live. We had no backyard, just trees and underbrush cascading down into a small valley. Then one day, a hurricane hit DC, and a big tree toppled against our wood-frame domicile. That is when I got woods woke.
We too live in a small town of about 9,000. We have birds that can look you in the eye like Herons, Egrets, Pelicans, and Cranes. Turtles lay eggs in our backyard every season. To move to any Florida paradise on the Atlantic Coast today would cost over $1M. I bought our house during the Great Recession for way less than that (Florida was the epicenter of the crash).
Sounds like paradise Tom. The town has 2,700 people, I live outside of town. If I could run, I could run a mile by 5 round trips on my driveway, from my house to the main road is 4/10ths of a mile of dirt road. We've got eagles , vultures and hawks. Like you I can step outside on my porch and see constellations.
I have 5 acres, 5 buildings which I paid $240,000 for in 2001, I just got my tax appraisl, $640,000 and I have a great view, but nothing at like yours.
I'm jealous.
We live in in a box in Baghdad By the Sea, the mystery capital of the world. Foreign and domestic intrigue. Peacock capitol. Ferral cats, chickens. We have more in common with Manhattan than paradise. They paved paradise.
We have more immigrants than natives. Hear more foreign languages than English on the streets and even my elevator.
I get involved in national GOTV phone banking. It's in the script of Dem campaigns to remind voters what ID is needed for their state
But there is also now the Vigilante voting thing Rs dreamed up. Anybody can challenge anyone's ballot. Nauseating the numbers of "challenged" Dem ballots probably got tossed in TX, and not sure whether every state. But I did see a "Challenge this vote" box on top of my ballot this year - California. A first. See https://gregpalast.com.
I am going off topic, for something more relevant and important. Damascus has fallen to the "rebels" the rebels are supposedly anti Asad fighters, but they are also HTS, and HTS is current rebranding of al Qaeda, which is Sunni, Asad and his regime are Shia of the Alawite sect. Hezbollah is Shia, and Iran has been using Syria as a staging point, training ground and weapons depot.
Putin has been an ally and supporter of Asad.
What this means for the Hezbollah-Iran nexus and the conflict with Israel, is a question mark, but it does mean that Putin has lost a crucial port, the Tartus Naval base on the Mediterranean
Syria also has a seaport on the Mediterranean, Latakia, which can also be denied the Russians, hence the Iranians
Iran proposed a Black Sea corridor that runs from Southern Iran to Armenia which has ports on the Black Sea. Russia has a miltary base inGyumri, Armenia, which is near the Turkish Georgian border
Persian Gulf—Black Sea corridor is a transport and transit corridor project proposed and created by Iran.[1] The corridor project starts from the Persian Gulf and southern Iran, heads north across the country, and then continues to Armenia,[2] from where it reaches the Georgian ports of Poti and Batumi in the Black Sea.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_Gulf%E2%80%94Black_Sea_corridor#:~:text=Persian%20Gulf%E2%80%94Black%20Sea%20corridor%20is%20a%20transport%20and%20transit,Batumi%20in%20the%20Black%20Sea.
For those paying attention, Russia has interfered in the Georgian elections and politics and has swung Georgia away from the EU and ostensibly to BRICS. And for good reason (strategically) because by controlling Georgia, Iran has access to the Black Sea and Russia has access to the Gulf of Arabia.
There is some long range geopolitical gaming going on.
Which was why the “conquest” of the United States and the crippling of our military is so important to Russia. Putin said that he expected the quid pro quo from Trump for helping to get him elected. RT the Russian version of Fox is saying that they are thrilled with Trump’s cabinet picks.
Yes, geopolitics is very much in play.
Right you are Kay. If the new regime threatens the Russian naval base at Tarsus, you can expect a full scale effort by Russia, maybe using Iran and Armenia.
Iraq and Syria share a border, Iran, Iraq are majority Shia,in fact they are Shia ruled.
The only tension between Iraq and Iran are ethnic or racial. Iraq is Arab, Iran is well Aryan (that is what the word Iran means). The Iranians have a 1400 year disdain for what they consider lizard eating Arabs. Saddam used that ethnic hostility in his war with Iran.
Look for an Iran Iraq detente, increasing pressure to expel what residual force that America has in Iraq, and there is already movement in that direction.
Reagan basically created the Taliban, and al Qaeda. Netanyahu basically created HAMAS
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham,or HTS. HTS’ precursor organization, Jabhat al-Nusra, was formed in Syria in 2011 as an al-Qaeda affiliate in opposition to Assad, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank. However, in July 2016, Jabhat al-Nusra dissolved and formally severed its public ties with al-Qaeda, and the re-formed group eventually merged with others in the region to establish HTS in January 2017..
Al Qaeda, HTS are Sunni, Iran, Asad are Shia,Iraq is Shia dominated, While Bashar Asad is Shia (Alawite) the population is Sunni.
America will become a Russian dependency, so long as the oligarchs like Musk,have a free hand to rape the economy and people.
is
This was why 14.3 Amendment was added after the Civil War. It’s ridiculous to have left traitors in the “halls of power” of the United States - and that includes the Supreme Court.
I agree, but who will evict them? Now that the theocratic fascists control all branches of government, and basically the subservient 4th estate.
SCOTUS made its immunity ruling before Trump took office. They did it so Trump could run, betting that the Biden/Harris Administration didn’t have the guts to do anything. So far, the Russian/Chinese backed billionaires have been correct in their gamble. No backbone from the Democrats.
No allegiance to the oath to protect and Defend the Constitution of the United States from all enemies foreign and domestic - so help me God.
The enemy is about to seize control of the United States and make a joke of our Constitution.
That enemy has NO allegiance to the Almighty - they lied their asses off to the American people and threw denied legitimate voters their vote.
Other countries have put stop to the theft of their democracy.
But the most powerful and oldest democracy in the world is afraid to stand up to this enemy backed overthrow of our government.
This Executive Branch so far has shown no willingness to act to protect the military who risked their lives to protect it. No willingness to act to honor the voters who came out to vote, only to have their votes ignored. No willingness to protect the vulnerabilities who were deceived my billionaires and enemy trolls allowed to spew lies to our population without fear of reprisal from our cyber security forces.
The United States was left unprotected to be conquered and looted while our “protectors” worked through a judiciary that they KNEW was already corrupted by the adversary.
We all face a life review after we die.
How will the life review go for the members of the Executive Branch that failed to honor their oath to God by protecting the Constitution of the United States from these enemies, both domestic and foreign.
Who really is willing to stand up for the Almighty when the demons are at the gate?
President Biden is an “old man”. He can go out as the President who saved the United States or as the one who let it fall.
Then Joe Biden the man can live that life review after he dies.
I am a messenger and a soldier who has seen the other side. I have been writing about this since 2008, before the FBI showed up at my place because of a dangerous incident.
This IS a Spiritual war. So far, the liars and “thieves” as described in John 10 have been allowed to take the victories.
Jesus said don’t make an oath - but if you do - you better honor that oath!!!!
God said “Vengeance is Mine and My Vengeance lasts for All Eternity”
That was the other message I was given
Kay, no offense but I don't believe in an accounting after death, we are no different than the animals we slaughter for food. This is it. the myth of life after death, if you are good and obedient little slaves, is a fiction to keep us in line and obedient to our shepherds. The job of a shepherd is to tend the flock until it is time for the fleecing and slaughter and I don't beguile or lie to myself with the comforting thought that they will get theirs after they are dead and gone.
An oath to a god, and there are so many and so little time, it is arrogant to assume that another persons god is your god. I was in a meeting where one attendee stated that his higher power was the ceiling fan.
However an oath is an oath, and oaths to some folk, like Trump and his cult of Christian fascists, is just words, like you they claim obedience to their version of god. God is another name for a sock puppet., Know the person know the god. The god of a decent human, loving person is a decent, humane, loving god. The god of a selfish, greedy, racist, intolerant sociopath is a selfish, greedy, racist, intolerant sociopath.
I know that you understand the difference.
One Question, You said that the oldest democracy in the world is unable to stand up to this enemy backed overthrow of our government?
I assume you mean the government of the United States is unable to stand up to the enemy backed overthrow of the United States.
Since government in a democracy, reflects the will of the people, then the will of the people is Russo Hungarian style government. That is the peril of a democracy, it contains the seeds of it's destruction. The freedoms it provides are used to destroy it.
People do not appreciate what they have, until they lose it.
Germany had the same problem in the 1930's.
This is indeed very threatening for Israel. And for Jewish people everywhere. As are all the Islamic Jihad groups. Indeed these are terrorists who are no friends of Christians either. And as this fight has denonstrated, neither Sunni nor Shia is a friend of those who practice the other Muslim system. I say system, because the Quran speaks of politics not just religion.
I contacted several people across Florida to see how many lawyers were there to protect voters against white trash thugs who were there to harass. Only one lawyer was reported,she was arrested on resisting charges and later quickly released. Who were there were cops who were chummy with the organized thuggish trash. One reported that the good ole boys were leering over the voters at the booths. When a voter complained, he was told "they're only making sure there was no cheating." This in this year. They should have PAID 'anything-for-buck' lawyers to BE there, unlike the many principled lawyers who showed up in principle because then lawyers, living up to their "infamy" during the infamously "communist hippie days", gave a shit about democracy.
...and so it goes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfs2kC0xOmU
Interview with Dr. Duncan Buell by Jessica Denson re the November 13 letter to VP Harris https://l.threads.net/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ffreespeechforpeople.org%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2024%2F11%2Fletter-to-vp-harris-111324-1.pdf&e=AT2u4jJH-hBf-2qjoJ4ZHhyzSC0GH-SDTwoKQIzjfdeH2ZmQo8Hc3z5uXYhN2Ea5i1Pbpb2T4IIYej3Vy4BrR7QFVCHTlMyMwj1RqlZzo2CLkQoQrHDt2nzo6e0
https://www.tiktok.com/@odds.bodkins/video/7440627895698984223
Here's another reason tRump did NOT win the past election. Why Harris decided to concede while the vote was still being counted is a mystery. Certainly Biden, Harris/ Waltz owes us an explanation. John Spoonamore, an expert in this field, said the vote count didn't add up. He suggested a hand recount. It's outrageous to think Gore and Harris gave up without a whimper. DJT is still saying he won the last election and took it to the SC.
Thom, the really intensionally did this too. The 92 year old lady can be purged then well what can and does happen to the rest of us. We really just want to vote and stand up for democracy. I have had time to reflect on things and without a just system for all of us is in jeopardy. Captain my Captain thanks again for letting me understand that it really does need to be about just voting and also understanding you have to vote for the things you truly value the most. Oligarchy, Captain was not on my list. Fair and square would be great. Thom, thanks for pointing these things out. We need to do something. Oligarchy not so much. The thing is Thom warned us this could happen. History shows us and tells us too Thom. America
We think we are a Christian county, what a joke
Thanks for posting this!
Excellent info and thanks as always, @Thom Hartmann. I'm glad to see both a spotlight on provisional ballots, and your note on numbers of Dem votes lost through this scurrilous practice - and others - uncovered by Greg Palast.
In light of your excerpt here, and some of the terrific notes in this thread, I'd like to mention a thread on X I saw today, Dec. 8. In short, hold your horses, guys. We may in fact see a pushback from Biden-Harris. And it will be a backfire for trump, using his own Sept 2018 ExecOder, which President Biden renewed this September.
https://medium.com/@IsabellaSutton/executive-order-13848-a-comprehensive-overview-7e2e67896014
White House original post Sept 2024:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2024/09/09/press-release-notice-on-the-continuation-of-the-national-emergency-with-respect-to-foreign-interference-in-or-undermining-public-confidence-in-united-states-elections-2/
This is where California procedures should be adopted nationwide (I'm sure Trump will do that right away). Here we can "cure" ballots. The County elections officials tell the campaigns the names of voters whose ballots had an error--usually the signature was missing or didn't match
their DL signature. Then we volunteers go out, and one by one, knock on people's doors; they sign an affidavit saying that is their signature, then the election official in a few days tells us if it is corrected . We are persistent. Sometimes it would take me all day to get 7 signatures. I'd wait around their neighborhoods until they came home.
We had great success in CA-13. We had targeted this red seat all year. Grey lost by only 500 votes last time. This time he was losing on election day and for weeks after that. (This is very red Central Valley). Then our "cured ballots started coming in and he WON by 127 votes!!
Thank you for this Tom! Speaking of hypervigilance: do you know of a Substack about the hacking of the last election following Elon Musk's harvesting of names and addresses with his million dollar offer? This person--and I can't find where I read it, said that the number of "bullet ballots" surpassed any in previous elections. These are ballots where only one name (Trump) was checked, and there were no other votes for other lesser positions.
According to the writer, who specializes in hacking issues, usually the number of bullet ballots in an election are something like .01% (I'm sorry, I'm guessing the number, but it was something like that). And in 2024, there were bullet ballots much higher in swing states, or in some cases, in specific counties that usually vote Democratic. One number I seem to remember was something like 11%.
The writer said in conclusion that only Kamala Harris could challenge these and demand a hand recount and the first deadline for one state was the Friday before Thanksgiving.
Clearly, there's not going to be a challenge. But clearly also, if this was the case, it will be imperative to figure out how to track Musk's shenanigans, which will likely be even more sophisticated in two years.
It appears that the Republican Party once again has found a way to the top of “ the Most Corrupt organization in the U S today”
It just amazes me over and over that these things never get the attention they require .
Not from Democrats or ….we’ll forget the media. No honor at all there.