There are 27 days until Election Day and the daily hamster wheel of crazy is nearing terminal velocity. I picked a good year to get off, but I fear for the hamster, and for the rest of us too.
If it helps, remember that you are not this guy:
Happy Wednesday.
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Must-Read: Trump is the Nightmare George Washington Feared
“Trump and his authoritarian political movement represent an existential threat to every ideal that Washington cherished and encouraged in his new nation. They are the incarnation of Washington’s misgivings about populism, partisanship, and the ‘spirit of revenge’ that Washington lamented as the animating force of party politics. Washington feared that, amid constant political warfare, some citizens would come to ‘seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual,’ and that eventually a demagogue would exploit that sentiment.”…
“Trump has left no doubt about his intentions; he practically shouts them every chance he gets.”
“As we judge the candidates, we should give thought to Washington’s example, and to three of Washington’s most important qualities and the traditions they represent: his refusal to use great power for his own ends, his extraordinary self-command, and, most of all, his understanding that national leaders in a democracy are only temporary stewards of a cause far greater than themselves.”
Nichols concludes: “Washington’s character and record ensured that almost any of his successors would seem smaller by comparison. But the difference between Washington and Trump is so immense as to be unmeasurable. No president in history, not even the worst moral weaklings among them, is further from Washington than Trump. Washington prized patience and had, as Adams put it, ‘the gift of silence’; Trump is ruled by his impulses and afflicted with verbal incontinence. Washington was uncomplaining; Trump whines incessantly. Washington was financially and morally incorruptible; Trump is a grifter and a crude libertine who still owes money to a woman he was found liable for sexually assaulting. Washington was a general of preternatural bravery who grieved the sacrifices of his men; Trump thinks that fallen soldiers are ‘losers’ and ‘suckers.’ Washington personally took up arms to stop a rebellion against the United States; Trump encouraged one.”
By all means let’s pick at our navels for deep thoughts about the beer that Kamala Harris opened on Stephen Colbert’s show last night; and worry our pearls and inflame our ulcers over the latest blip in the within-the-margin-of-error polls.
But it might help to remind ourselves that nothing that is happening right now is remotely normal.
Ronald Reagan sought a second term by talking about “Morning in America”. Trump’s pitch? A hurricane of lies, smears, and threats. And I know that it’s hard keeping up. So, a quick tour d’horizon:
Trump falsely claimed that there were “no helicopters, no rescue” in North Carolina to help those injured and stranded by the Category 4 storm. He lied when he said President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris stole $1 billion from Federal Emergency Management Agency to spend it on housing for “illegal migrants.”
He purposely misled those in need when he falsely claimed that the federal government was only giving $750 to people who lost their homes. The slurry of misinformation represents the latest wave of utter BS propagated by the MAGA-verse.
“[The misinformation] is absolutely the worst I have ever seen,” FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell told reporters Tuesday.
Gratuitous lies Republicans tell in 2024 are rooted in the Big Lie. Once you are party to a lie that consequential, smaller ones get easier to tell. The Big Lie has changed this country forever. It is why we had January 6th and why the lives of any Republicans who tell the truth are threatened and the lives of election workers are threatened and why we could have violence in the days and weeks following this election and why radicalized Republicans at the local level are planning to delay certification of the election and why Trump was able to be nominated again and be positioned to possibly win a second term and replace our democracy with an autocracy.
Prepare yourself for this ugly reality: Every Republican in elected office will be expected to go out and lie again if Trump loses on November 5. And they will do it, even if it causes violence.
Thousands of copies of Donald Trump’s “God Bless the USA” Bible were printed in a country that the former president has repeatedly accused of stealing American jobs and engaging in unfair trade practices — China.
Global trade records reviewed by The Associated Press show a printing company in China’s eastern city of Hangzhou shipped close to 120,000 of the Bibles to the United States between early February and late March.
The estimated value of the three separate shipments was $342,000, or less than $3 per Bible, according to databases that use customs data to track exports and imports. The minimum price for the Trump-backed Bible is $59.99, putting the potential sales revenue at about $7 million.
This is what the Republican congressman felt necessary to tell his constituents:
Hurricane Helene was NOT geoengineered by the government to seize and access lithium deposits in Chimney Rock.
Nobody can control the weather.
Charles Konrad, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Southeast Regional Climate Center, has confirmed that no one has the technology or ability to geoengineer a hurricane.
Current geoengineering technology can serve as a large-scale intervention to mitigate the negative consequences of naturally occurring weather phenomena, but it cannot be used to create or manipulate hurricanes.
Local officials have confirmed the government is NOT seizing Chimney Rock.
There was no “special meeting” held in Chimney Rock between federal, state or local governments about seizing the town.
Local officials are NOT abandoning search and rescue efforts to bulldoze over Chimney Rock.
Chimney Rock is NOT being bulldozed over.
Rutherford County emergency services personnel are going to extensive lengths to search for missing people, including in debris by using cadaver dogs to locate any remains of individuals trapped in the debris.
Just as every other community in Western North Carolina, Chimney Rock officials are focused first and foremost on recovery efforts, followed by plans to rebuild in the future.
FEMA is NOT stopping trucks or vehicles with donations, confiscating or seizing supplies, or otherwise turning away donations.
FEMA does not conduct vehicle stops or handle road closures with armed guards - all road closures are managed by local law enforcement who are prioritizing getting resources to their fellow community members.
FEMA has NOT diverted disaster response funding to the border or foreign aid.
Disaster response efforts and individual assistance are funded through the Disaster Relief Fund, which is a dedicated fund for disaster efforts.
FEMA’s non-disaster related presence at the border has always been of major concern to me, even before Hurricane Helene, and I will continue to condemn their deployment of personnel to the southern border, but we must separate the two issues.
FEMA is NOT going to run out of money.
FEMA officials have repeatedly affirmed that the agency has enough money for immediate response and recovery needs over the next few months.
Secretary Mayorkas’ statement indicating otherwise was an irresponsible attempt to politicize a tragedy for personal gain.
In the coming months, Western North Carolina is going to need more disaster relief funding than is currently available to assist with recovery efforts.
I’m confident that supplemental disaster relief funding, which I am already involved in the process of creating, will be considered in the House once we return to session in mid-November.
FEMA cannot seize your property or land.
Applying for disaster assistance does not grant FEMA or the federal government authority or ownership of your property or land.
The FAA is NOT restricting access to airspace for Helene rescue and recovery operations.
Nobody seeking to fly resources into Western North Carolina will be prohibited from doing so by the FAA or North Carolina Emergency Management so long as they coordinate their efforts with NC Aviation.
If you are looking to conduct an airdrop of resources but don’t know who to contact for approval, please reach out to my office and we will share that information with you.
FEMA is NOT only providing $750 to disaster survivors to support their recovery.
The initial $750 provided to disaster survivors is an immediate type of assistance called Serious Needs Assistance that may be made to individuals in need as soon as they apply for FEMA assistance.
The $750 is an upfront, flexible payment to help cover essential items like food, water, baby formula and medication while FEMA assesses the applicant’s eligibility for additional funds.
This award is just the first step of a longer process to provide financial assistance to disaster survivors in need of federal support.
As an application moves through the review process, individuals are eligible to receive additional forms of assistance for other needs such as temporary housing, personal property and home repair costs, etc.
If Democrats could control the weather, Mar a Lago would be at the bottom of the Atlantic years ago.
Is anyone else just exhausted from this shit?