Crooked Media - What A Day: Commander in Cheat

When a president who’s down in the polls and terrified of losing refuses to commit to a peaceful transfer of power, you might hope that elected Republicans would finally jolt awake, condemn that threat in the strongest possible terms, and take immediate steps to strengthen the guardrails of our democracy. Ah well, there’s always the next constitutional crisis.
 

• On Wednesday, President Trump not only declined to commit to stepping aside peacefully if he loses, he announced his desire to throw out the absentee ballots that might add up to his loss: “Get rid of the ballots and you’ll have a very peaceful—there won’t be a transfer, frankly. There will be a continuation.” Today White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany effectively said the same thing: “The president will accept the results of a free and fair election”—which, in Trump’s Plinko board of a mind, means an election that he wins, and nothing else. 
   
• Some Republicans disavowed Trump’s comments without putting anything on the line that might force him to change his course. Here’s everyone’s favorite disappointment Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT): “Fundamental to democracy is the peaceful transition of power; without that, there is Belarus. Any suggestion that a president might not respect this Constitutional guarantee is both unthinkable and unacceptable.” So unthinkable and unacceptable, in fact, that Romney remains on board to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg with Trump’s Supreme Court nominee—whoever the hell it is—before the election. 
   
• Other Republicans just pretended: Offering his best McEnany impression, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said, “The winner of the November 3rd election will be inaugurated on January 20th. There will be an orderly transition just as there has been every four years since 1792.” You may notice his statement takes no position on asking the Court to throw out millions of ballots, but Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) gave away McConnell’s true meaning when he said: “The Court will decide, and if Republicans lose, we’ll accept the result.” Some of us here at Crooked Media remember a time when everyone agreed that it’s the voters who decide the winner in a presidential election, but then, we are old, and have onions tied to our belts. 

The most important fact to keep in mind is that Trump wouldn’t be frantically trying to steer the conversation in this awful direction if democracy wasn’t clearly coming for his ass.
 

• National polls consistently show Joe Biden with a steady lead as we approach the first presidential debate next week, and he’s holding onto (smaller, complacency-defying) leads across key battleground states. Trump is also facing close races in Georgia, Iowa, and Texas—historically red states where strong opposition from women has made him vulnerable. Today, Trump encountered his less-than-adoring public for the first time in months, as RBG mourners greeted him at the Supreme Court steps with loud boos and chants of “honor her wish” and “vote him out.”
   
• The Justice Department has sauntered into the ballot-counting business with an insane announcement that it’s investigating nine (9) misplaced Pennsylvania ballots that were supposedly cast for Trump. But this Bill Barr-approved attempt to fuel conspiracy theories unraveled pretty quickly: it’s in fact unclear whether all nine ballots were cast for Trump, and even whether they were cast in the general election or the state primary. Meanwhile, FBI Director Christopher Wray told senators today that the bureau has seen no evidence of “any kind of coordinated national voter fraud effort”—in this election, or ever. When it comes to ginning up voter fraud accusations, the Trump team doesn’t have much to work with here.

Two things are true at the same time. Thing one is, Donald Trump has openly threatened to dismantle American democracy in order to remain in power, and there’s no reason to think he wouldn’t follow through if given the chance. Thing two is, voters can and must deny him that chance. Our job is to make sure they do, in record-shattering numbers. 39 days.

On this week's Missing America: How can the U.S. emerge as a welcoming respite for migrants and convince other countries to follow? With nearly 80 million refugees worldwide, there is much to be done.

Host Ben Rhodes talks to Zarlasht Hamalzai, a former refugee from Afghanistan who has dedicated her life to helping refugees settle—and heal—amidst a rising tide of xenophobia in the U.K. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your pods → 

Sure, Facebook has refused, infuriatingly, to impose stronger rules to limit the spread of election-related misinformation, but at least it’s also not enforcing the few rules it does have. In recent weeks Facebook has allowed super PACs to target swing-state voters with hundreds of misleading ads, according to an analysis by the activist group Avaaz. Some of those ads were from a pro-Democratic PAC which made misleading claims about the U.S. Postal Service, but America First Action, a pro-Republican group led by former Trump officials, spent far more money and received many more impressions on ads spreading false claims about Joe Biden. Facebook allows politicians themselves to lie with impunity in paid ads, but independent political groups are subject to the platform’s misinformation policies—at least in theory.

• Police arrested a suspect in the shooting of two Louisville, KY, officers during protests over the failure to charge anyone for killing Breonna Taylor. The officers’ wounds weren’t life-threatening. Louisville police also arrested at least 127 protesters on Wednesday night.
   
• U.S. Attorney John Durham used his Bill Barr-directed investigation of the Russia investigators to try to gin up dirt on the Clintons, suggesting that this whole inquiry might potentially have been geared towards some kind of political purpose, if you can even believe it.
   
• Mary Trump has sued her uncle Donald and his siblings for fraud, alleging that her family cheated her out of an inheritance worth tens of millions of dollars. Name a more wholesome family, we’ll wait.
   
• Retired Gen. Paul Selva, a former senior military advisor to President Trump, has endorsed Joe Biden. He’s one of nearly 500 former military officials and national security experts to sign an open letter in support of Biden over Trump.
   
• The Department of Homeland Security hasn’t approved security clearances for whistleblower Brian Murphy’s lawyers, effectively blocking him from testifying before Congress.
   
• A super PAC supporting Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) tried to portray Democratic Senate candidate MJ Hegar as “radical” by featuring her tattoos prominently in an attack ad. Hegar, an Air Force veteran, pointed out that those tattoos cover her shrapnel wounds: “They're a mark of my service to our country. I'm damn proud of them.” In recognition of this tremendous own, consider throwing $5 towards Hegar’s very winnable race → 
   
• In other flawless advertising, the Trump campaign touted “the best” economy in history with an ad featuring the president’s 2018 visit to an Illinois steel plant that recently laid off hundreds of workers. 
   
• Just making sure everyone knows what’s happening over in the Canadian Supreme Court?

Hello, please be productively worried about Florida! The latest polls show President Trump and Joe Biden essentially tied in the country’s biggest swing state. Republicans have all but closed the voter registration gap in Florida, cutting Democrats’ advantage to fewer than 185,000 voters—a gap of 1.3 percentage points. Florida’s attorney general has called for an investigation of Mike Bloomberg’s efforts to pay outstanding court fines and fees so people with felony convictions can vote, because when Florida’s GOP legislature instituted a poll tax, it didn’t mean for Democratic voters to be able to pay it. The upshot is, we have work to do.

Say goodbye to furniture envy. Article is the easiest way to create a beautiful modern space — all at the click of a button. From plush sofas you can curl up in, to designer-curated bundles that take the guesswork out of decorating, Article’s selection of furniture makes it easy to create a space you’ll feel right at home in. Article is offering our readers $50 off their first purchase of $100 or more. To claim, visit article.com/world and the discount will be automatically applied at checkout.

Arnold Schwarzenegger announced that he’ll offer grants to allow local jurisdictions to reopen polling places. 

Awkwafina has pledged to donate the profits from her quarterly music sales to help small businesses in New York City’s Chinatown that have been impacted by the pandemic.

Your donations to Democratic Senate candidates have deeply stressed out Lindsey Graham. 

Your organizing has motivated a frankly unwieldy number of poll workers. Keep it all up.