2018 Election Day open thread

By Mark | November 6, 2018

9:00 AM I’m home with a sick kid, so thing may not go as planned, but I’m hoping to vote soon, and then head back home to do some remote phone banking through Swing Left for Amy McGrath, the Democratic candidate for Kentucky’s 6th district, which covers Frankfort, where I lived as a baby, Georgetown, where my great grandparents were tobacco farmers, and Lexington, where I was born, and most of my family still lives. As of right now, it’s an incredibly tight race, and, if I can convince just one person to head to the polls, I’ll feel as though I at least helped in some small way. [I’d thought of taking a few days off and knocking doors in Kentucky, but chose to stay here and work in Michigan instead. The decision has been weighing on me, though.] Here, according to the FiveThrityEight forecast, is how things look right not for that race.

9:30 AM If you have any Election Day observations to share, good or bad, please leave a comment on this thread. I’ll be checking throughout the day… I’m encouraged to see that there’s not really much chance of rain in the forecast here in Southeast Michigan, but high winds could pose a problem for some voters, especially if we experience power failures.

9:45 AM In Georgia, where I’ve also lived a good part of my life, it’s looking like, in spite of the aggressive voter suppression efforts against black voters, the unfounded last-minute accusations of hacking, and racist robocalls, Secretary of State Brian Kemp must still think that he’s going to lose the gubernatorial race to Democratic candidate Stacey Abrams. Why else would he be resorting to posting bullshit nonsense like this to social media?

10:00 Speaking of offensive racists, here’s what Donald Trump had to say this morning when asked about the fact that networks were refusing to air his appallingly xenophobic and factually incorrect ad about how Democrats want to let homicidal killers into America to kill police officers. It should be noted, speaking of Trump’s grotesque racism, that he declared Brian Kemp’s black opponent, Stacey Abrams, to be “not qualified” for the office of Governor. Abrams, in addition to being a dynamic black woman, is a graduate of Yale Law School with 17 years of political experience, serving the last ten years in the Georgia General Assembly, where she served as House Minority Leader.

10:10 Speaking of Trump’s attitude toward the press, and his attempts to cast journalists as the ones who are responsible for the political violence that we’re seeing in the country today, I don’t think I’ve mentioned it here yet, but, a few days ago, he said the following on the White House lawn. “You’re creating violence by your question,” he said to a reporter. “The fake news is creating violence.” [As if you needed one more reason to vote today, right?]

10:15 Remember, this is about health care, not caravans.

10:25 For what it’s worth, I’m not just interested in hearing about your voting experiences in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti. I’m curious to know what you’re observing, no matter where you might be. With that said, though, I’m particularly interested in few races around the state of Michigan where the Democrats might be able to win seats back from Republicans, like the the Michigan 7th (where Republican incumbent Tim Walberg is facing Democrat Gretchen Driskell), the Michigan 8th (where incumbent Mike Bishop is facing Democratic challenger Elissa Slotkin), and the Michigan 11th (where Democrat Haley Stevens is running agains Republican Lena Epstein for the seat being vacated by the reprehensible Dave Trott). Any insight you might be able to offer as to what’s happening on the ground in those areas would be greatly appreciated.

10:40 I just got a call from my daughter, asking to be picked up from school here in Ypsi. Apparently the power is out, I suspect due the high winds. Hopefully the polling places aren’t impacted.

11:40 My polling place was hopping. I was voted number 363 at 11:20. There was a decent little line, but it didn’t take more than about 15 minutes, from the time that I walked in with the kids, to the time when I got to start working on my ballot. Also, if you, like me, happen to be voting at Ypsilanti International Elementary School, be sure to take a few extra dollars for the PTO bake sale. There’s still lots of good stuff to be had… Oh, and the guy behind me in line to vote was one of the guys the Landline team bowled agains last night. We each won one game, and then tied the third. It was an incredible athletic competition. [Their team as the best beards in the league.]

11:50 Again, if you fell for this contemptible and racist Republican ploy to influence the election in their favor, you are a moron. This was $220 million that could have been spent out caring for our veterans, educating our kids, and protecting those of us with pre-existing conditions. It’s absolutely shameful that this happened in America, and one hope the Democrats retake the House so that we can hold investigations.

1:00 I just heard from Jeff Irwin, who is soon to be our next State Senator, that his polling place in the Township was packed. “Turnout was high at the Polo Fields on Packard in Ypsilanti Township,” he reports. “Despite the rain, we had a long line for much of the time before 9:00, a good sign.” Speaking of which, the volunteers on my polling place said that it was just as busy this morning as it was for the last presidential election, which is a great sign.

2:00 Completely unrelated, on the way up the street to vote, I noticed that the play structure is being installed at Riverside Park.

2:10 Back to the crime taking place right now in George, check this out.

Terri Durham followed up at 11:30 to say that the lines, four hours after the polls opened, have finally started moving. “I just hope the people who left come back,” she said.

One hopes that enough Democrats win that there can be a through investigation into what happened in Georgia. It’s absolutely disgraceful.

2:20 Linette just got home from a meeting with Global Detroit, and she tells me that one of the people she was meeting with was voter number 900 this morning. I don’t know which Detroit precinct it was, but that has to be a good sign, right?

2:25 Best early headline of the day comes from Politico — “Retiring Rep. Issa calls it early: There will be a Dem representing my district”

2:30 Bloomberg is reporting that Twitter removed a fake flag-burning video that was shared 55,000 times. The video claimed that Democrats were burning flags. A few days ago, it was reported that Twitter had taken down thousands of accounts urging people (I’m assuming young people and people of color) not to vote.

2:45 OK, people are finally starting to answer their phones. After leave a lot of voicemails, I’ve finally his a streak where I’m talking to real Kentuckians about Amy McGrath. The good news is, everyone I’ve talked with thus far has already voted for her. Now I just need to get better about convincing them to call their friends. [So far, I’ve not seen the numbers of any my relatives in Lexington pop up.]

3:30 More from the banana republic of Georgia.

By the way, I just checked the census data, and it looks like Snellville is about 36% black. I wonder if this is also happening in the areas of Georgia that are more white, and more Republican?

3:35 A new article has been posted to Time. The headline reads, “Michigan Voted for Trump. Now It’s Poised to Elect Democratic Women.” Here’s an excerpt.

…Now, in a year when an unprecedented number of women are running for office all over the country, the state that helped make Trump president is also the state with the most notable surge in enthusiasm for female candidates. Democratic women are running strong races up and down the ticket. Senator Debbie Stabenow and gubernatorial candidate Gretchen Whitmer both have solid leads over their male Republican opponents, according to a new poll released Monday, mostly thanks to a massive edge among women voters: Stabenow is up 23 points with women, while Whitmer is up 28. Democratic Attorney General candidate Dana Nessel and Secretary of State candidate Jocelyn Benson also have leads heading into Election Night.

Stevens is favored to win the open seat vacated by GOP Rep. Dave Trott. (She’s running against Lena Epstein, former Michigan chair for the Trump campaign, so Michigan’s 11th will be represented by a woman no matter the outcome on Tuesday.) If she does, she’ll be joined in the Michigan House delegation by other Democratic women. Rashida Tlaib is running unopposed in Michigan’s 13th district, making her all but certain to become one of the first Muslim-American women in Congress. Former CIA official Elissa Slotkin is mounting a tough challenge to Rep. Mike Bishop in Michigan’s 8th district. Former state representative Gretchen Driskell has outraised GOP Rep. Tim Wahlberg in Michigan’s 7th district. Former teacher Cathy Albro is challenging Rep. Justin Amash in a heavily Republican district. And the two Michigan incumbents, Debbie Dingell and Brenda Lawrence, don’t seem to be going anywhere…

3:48 Among all of the other things I’d like for the Democrats to investigate, should they take back a chamber or two of Congress, I’d like a hearing on whether or not Trump violated federal law yesterday when he warned people to stay away from the polls. His supporters, I’m sure, will say that he just did this to discourage voter fraud. You cannot tell me, however, that messages like this don’t put a chilling effect on participation from marginalized groups, who might be fearful, for instance, of being arrested if their addresses don’t match perfectly, etc.

4:00 Average wait time at the polls in Atlanta, according to reports, is currently three hours.

4:00 Fuck. I could watch videos like this all damn day… What’s more beautiful than this?

6:20 OK, let’s start the predictions. Here’s the first one, from Ann Arbor County Commissioner Andy LaBarre. “My guess is we’ll win about 30 US House seats and the four statewides. Hope I’m wrong, and we do more.“ And, with that, I’m headed to Pita Pita for dinner.

7:30 If I should disappear for a while to go get a beer with Dr. Pete Larson, just watch the Pod Save America livestream until I get back. And check the comments section, where iRobert is keeping up informed on returns.

9:00 Drinking beer with Dr. Peter Larson at Sidetrack, and watching the results as they come in.

10:20 The Michigan gubernatorial race has been called for Gretchen Whitmer, effectively ending the political career of Bill Schuette. Or at least that’s my hope.

11:00 It’s still not done yet, but NBC, FOX and NPR are projecting that the the Democrats will retake the House. As bad as it hurts that great candidates like Abrams, Gillum, and O’Rourke lost, I’m taking a lot of comfort in the idea that, in a few short months, Adam Schiff will be running the House Intelligence Committee instead of Devin Nunes. This is huge… I cannot wait for the hearings to begin. [Jerrold Nadler, The Democrat slated to chair the House Judiciary Committee, tells CNN: “This election was about accountability. Donald Trump may not like hearing it but for the first time, his administration is going to be held accountable.”]

11:15 Speaking of investigations, it’s already being reported that the Democrats intend to request Trump’s tax returns.

Final thoughts for the night… While disappointed that we didn’t get everything that we wanted tonight, we got back the House, and that’s huge. One party rule is over. Furthermore, midwestern states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, swung back in a big way, after giving Trump the presidency. [It felt really good to see Scott Walker lose his reelection bid in Wisconsin, and for Kris Kobach to get his ass kicked in Kansas.] And, of course, it was terrific to see so many talented Democratic women winning their House races. Was it perfect? No. As I said above, I would have loved to have seen Cruz and Kemp swept out of office, and it would have been incredible if we’d taken the Senate, but, all in all, it was huge night for America. Finally, after two long years, we’ll see the Trump agenda slowed, and the members of the Trump crime family held accountable for their numerous misdeeds.

And, here in Michigan, we did alright. While Democrats failed to flip either the State House or Senate, we did make headway, winning back the Governor’s office, holding onto Stabenow’s Senate seat, winning back the Secretary of State’s office after 30 years, and flipping a few House seats… While Democrat Gretchen Driskell failed to defeat Republican incumbent Tim Walberg in Michigan’s 7th, we flipped Michigan’s 8th, where Republican incumbent Mike Bishop lost to Democratic challenger Elissa Slotkin, and Michigan’s 11th, where Democrat Haley Stevens beat Republican Lena Epstein for the seat vacated by Dave Trott.

8:00 This morning, Donald Trump gives us a little insight as to what’s to come. After taking credit for the great Republican “success” of last night, he said the following… Buckle up, folks. If you thought things were crazy before, just wait.

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Health Care, Caravans, and the Fight for Truth and the Future of America

By Mark | November 4, 2018

I know a lot has happened over the past two years, since Donald Trump took office. The sheer amount of what we’ve been forced to process as informed citizens has been absolutely overwhelming. There have been multiple shootings by white supremacists, assassination attempts against our most effective opposition leaders, and false accusations intended to kill an investigation into the crimes perpetrated by Donald Trump and members of his administration. And that’s just been over these past two weeks. When you add to that the overwhelming number of lies about the so-called “caravan” of immigrants making their way northward through Mexico, and everything else going on right now, it’s a wonder that we haven’t all just nailed out front doors shut and disengaged completely. But, yet, most of us, as least from what I can tell, keep on attempting to make sense of every new threat as it arises, trying our best, in our own little ways, to mitigate what we can, and make our current situation a little less terrible. Unfortunately, though, when we’re caught up in this everyday whirlwind of toxic rhetoric, corrosive lies, and political violence, it’s easy to lose sight of what came before. And, with that said, I wanted to just take a break for a moment and share an old photo from May, 2017, shortly after Donald Trump took office.

That, my friends, is what wealthy, white men look like when they take health care from the American people. The photo, for those of you who might not remember when it was in the press, was taken just after House Republicans passed a bill to repeal and replace significant elements of the Affordable Care Act, the 2010 law that, under President Obama, expanded health care coverage to approximately 20 million Americans. Since then, as a result of continued efforts on the part of the Republican Party, a significant number of Americans have lost their health coverage. In 2017 alone, Gallup estimates that 3.2 million Americans lost their coverage, and that number is growing. And the protections for people with pre-existing conditions, passed into law under Obama, are now on the chopping block.

The Republicans, as you might expect, are blatantly lying about this, knowing full well that the American people support moves to expand health care access, protect people with pre-existing conditions, and safeguard Medicare and Medicaid. Asked about health care a week or so ago, White House spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, “The president’s health care plan that he’s laid out, covers pre-existing conditions.” This, of course, is a lie, as the President has never laid out a health care plan. Not only is there not a plan, though — every action taken by the Trump administration has been to weaken the protections established by Obamacare. The Trump administration, for instance, just imposed new rules that would make it easier for insurance companies to deny service to those with pre-existing conditions. And, to make matters worse, they just recently filed a brief in federal court arguing that protections for people with pre-existing conditions are unconstitutional. And yet Donald Trump keeps tweeting things like this.

This, of course, is an easily provable lie.

And it’s critically important… All of the lies we’re being told are important, but it’s especially important, I think, that we’re being lied to about pre-existing conditions, as 14% of voters, according to a recent Kaiser Health poll, say the protecting people with pre-existing conditions is their top priority… not one of their top priorities, but their very top priority.

As Ezra Klein just recently wrote for Vox, “The essence of elections is that voters have a clear idea of what the two parties intend to do so they can make an informed choice between them. The fact that the president is trying to utterly deceive them is important.”

And that’s what this is. It’s purposeful deception. Right now, there are laws in place to protect people with pre-existing conditions, preventing insurance companies from denying service, and the Republicans want them overturned. But, at the same time, the Republicans know that an overwhelming percentage of our citizens want these protections. So they lie… They tell us that it’s the Democrats who want to roll back protections for people with pre-existing conditions. They tell us that it’s Donald Trump who is looking out for us. He’s our protector, they say. Sure, he laughed when they started dismantling the ACA, and signed legislation to give $1.5 trillion to America’s most wealthy, necessitating cuts social welfare programs, but it’s us working folks, according to Republicans, that he really wants to help. And that’s why, a few weeks ago, he promised to pass a 10% middle class tax cut by Election Day. Of course, it never came to fruition, and it never will. But truth no longer matters. All that matters is that 30-some percent of Americans accept it as having happened.

Which brings us back to the caravan, and why Donald Trump is making such a big deal out of something that, to be honest, isn’t that big of a deal. These caravans have been happening for decades, and the most recent one before this, this past April, only resulted in approximately 350 people reaching the U.S. border, as most people making the journey up from South America settled in Mexico. This is not an invading army, as the President and his enablers at Fox News would have you believe. These are poor people seeking better, safer lives for their families. But that message doesn’t dominate news cycles, which is what this is really all about. This is all about keeping health care off the front page. As a source close to the White House told CNN’s Jim Acosta a few days ago, when discussing the caravan, “It’s clearly working. We are all talking about it and not health care.”

So, instead of talking about substantive issues that really affect our families, we’re talking about how Democrats want to let homicidal killers into America to kill our children, and that’s not hyperbole. The President is actually suggesting that the Democrats want to put our families in danger… The following image comes from a racist ad shared a few days ago by the President of the United States.

In the ad, the man seen above, Luis Bracamontes, can be heard saying, “I killed fucking cops” and “I’m going to kill more cops soon,”
while phrases like, “Democrats let him into our country, Democrats let him stay,” flash across the screen. No where is there mention of the fact that Bracamontes entered into the country under both Democratic and Republican presidents, and was essentially put back on the street when a Republican local official dropped a pending case against him.

I want to say more, but I think you get the point, and I’m running later for a phone-banking shift at the local Democratic Party headquarters.

Oh, before I go, though, I do want to say two more things. First, Donald Trump is lying when he says, as he did a few days ago, that only “3% of people released for an asylum hearing actually show up for court,” implying that these asylum seekers from South America, if we allow them into the country, will simply disappear into our cities to plot against us. The truth, according to Trump’s own Justice Department, is that 89% last year, 91% in 2016, 93% in 2015, and 94% in 2014 showed up in court for their asylum hearings. And, second, according to the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, Trump’s pre-election move of ordering thousands of active duty U.S. troops to the border, for no reason other than to lend credence to the laughable claim that an invasion force is approaching, will cost us between $42 million and $110 million. And, here, with that said, is a little something from Richard Haass, the president of the Council on Foreign Relations, for you to think about.

Please vote, folks. Working together, we can end this.

Posted in Health, Observations, Politics, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 35 Comments

Do you agree that we need to stand up to Trumpism? Here’s how you can help as we approach Election Day, Ypsilanti.

By Mark | November 3, 2018

A few quick thoughts for my fellow Ypsilantians… things that you can do between now and Election Day, not only to make your voting experience better, but to finally change the tide against Trumpism, and to do so in a decisive fashion.

First: Read Your Ballot… If you live in Ypsi, and you haven’t done so already, go to the Secretary of State’s website and download your sample ballot, and, then, if you’re so inclined, head back to the the thread last week where we discussed the various races, sharing notes on Judges, comparing notes on City Council candidates, and debating the finer points of the ballot initiatives we’ll all be voting on.

Second: Find Your Polling Place… Just to be sure, check and make sure you know where to vote. My polling place changed last time, and I suspect that others in Ypsilanti may have as well.

Third: Pack A “Fuck Yeah I’m Voting” Voting Bag… Like an expectant mother, make a bag and put it by your front door. Not only will it remind you to vote come Election Day, but it’ll make it more likely that you’ll have a good voting experience. One this that you absolutely need to have, right along with your ID, is the this number: 833-430-VOTE. That’s the number to call if you experience any problem at all voting. And, along with your ID, and that number, be sure to include some food, like granola bars, to share. [Nothing is better than sharing food with people in line.] And it couldn’t hurt to bring a couple of umbrellas, as it’s supposed to rain. [Bring a few, as someone near you in line may not have one, and we want to be sure that everyone sticks around to vote.] And, I guess, if you don’t like talking people, bring a magazine or two.

Fourth: Make a Contribution… If you’ve you got any money at all that you can afford to invest in the race, the folks at Vote Save America have identified a number of races where you’re donations could still make a significant difference. And, of course, there are still those three flippable seats in Michigan that we talked about back in August… here’s what I wrote about them at the time.

I know, having lived through the 2016 election cycle, polls can be horribly wrong, but, as of right now, the folks at FiveThirtyEight are giving the Democrats a 74.6% chance of retaking the House, which is currently controlled by the Republicans, who hold 236 of the 435 seats in the chamber. [The Democrats currently hold 193, and there are 6 vacancies.] So, to retake the House, the Democrats would need to hold every seat they currently hold, and pick up 24 seats currently held by Republicans. And, according to the FiveThirtyEight model, as of right now, “there is an 80% chance that the Democrats will gain anywhere from 14 to 58 seats.” So, it’s conceivable that we can do this. We just need to stay strong, knock on every door, give till it hurts, and flip 24 seats… The question I’m struggling with is which of these races I should try to help with, seeing as my district is solidly Democrat.

(According to modeling done by) FiveThirtyEight, we have a decent chance of picking up three seats (here in the mitten state); the Michigan 7th (where Republican incumbent Tim Walberg currently leads Democrat Gretchen Driskell by only about 2.5 points), the Michigan 8th (which FiveThrityEight considers a “toss-up” between incumbent Mike Bishop and Democratic challenger Elissa Slotkin), and the Michigan 11th (which is currently leaning Democrat, with Haley Stevens leading Lena Epstein for the seat being vacated by the reprehensible Dave Trott).

The good news is, since I last posted that, these three races have shifted even more toward the Democrats. According to FiveThirtyEight, Elissa Slotkin is leading Mike Bishop by over a point, Haley Stevens is leading Lena Epstein by over four points, and Gretchen Driskell is within striking distance of Tim Walberg. Not only that, but three more races have become competitive; Michigan’s 1st, 2nd and 6th. The Republicans in those districts are still leading my relatively large margins, but no where near the level that people expected, and there’s a chance that we could have one or two upsets on our hands if Democrats turn out to vote in record numbers.

Fifth: Volunteer… I was just at the Democratic Party Headquarters on Michigan Avenue (seen in the photo above), and they need more volunteers to work the phone bank and go door to door, encouraging people to go and and vote on Tuesday. The office, at 418 Michigan Avenue, is open from 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM today, tomorrow, and Monday, and from 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM on Election Day. According to the folks at the office, there’s no need for drivers on Election Day, but there’s a huge need for people to work the phones and go door to door. So, if you have an hour or two to work a shift, it would be very much appreciated. And, of course, if you want to bring food when you show up to volunteer, it would be awesome. As of right now, the snack levels look pretty good, but I’m sure, as we get closer to Election Day, bottles of water, muffins, and the like, would be appreciated.

Sixth: Talk with Your Friends… Tell everyone you know to get out and vote, especially any young folks you may know. We need every vote we can get here in the liberal paradise of Ypsilanti to offset the conservative votes elsewhere in the state, and anything at all that you can do to encourage those who you know to do so would be incredible. And don’t just say, “Are you voting?” Ask if they’ve seen their ballot. Ask if they know where their polling place is. Ask if they’d like to come along with you, have lunch afterward wit the them, whatever. This is the most important election of our lifetimes, and we all have to do whatever we can to vote the Republican Party out of power. The future of our democracy depends on it.

Did I forget anything? If so, please leave a comment.

See you at the polls.

Posted in Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

Ypsilanti’s first Annual Cider Fest is this Saturday

By Mark | November 1, 2018

A while back, I’d heard from from a friend that the Michigan Brewers Guild had put out the word that, going forward, they wouldn’t be allowing cider makers to participate in their big, annual Ypsilanti Beer Fest. Being skeptical by nature, and knowing how much cider is increasing in popularity, I just assumed that this friend of mine had gotten ahold of some bad information. So I wrote to the Brewers Guild today and asked for them to confirm it, which they did. “The decision was made,” they told me, “to only offer Michigan beer at our beer festivals.” It seemed shortsighted to me, given that cider sales, from what I’ve read, are growing, while craft beer sales seem to be leveling out, but I suppose it’s possible that the brewers felt that it didn’t help them to have similar but competing beverages at the same event. Whatever the reason, Michigan’s cideries were cut out, leaving an opportunity for some enterprising entrepreneurial types to jump in and fill the void. And, as a result, Ypsilanti is going to have its first annual Cider Fest this Saturday, from noon to dusk, on College Place, between West Cross and Emmet streets, in the shadow of the water tower. The event, which will feature around 45 different ciders from about 15 Michigan cideries, is free, open to the public, and family friendly. [You can buy ciders, donuts, and food from Cross Street vendors like Tower Inn, Veg O Rama and Insomnia Cookies.]

For those of you who would like to know more, I shot a short video this evening at the Wurst Bar, where I sat around sampling ciders with industry insider Besnick Aliko and bar owner Jesse Kranyak… And, no, I don’t have a financial interest in this. I just like Jesse, who I own a building with downtown, and appreciate the fact that he and his West Cross neighbors are shutting down a street, having a party, and creating a new fall festival, which could turn into a pretty good thing for Ypsi.

Posted in Food, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman, with neither a victim nor evidence, accuse Robert Mueller of “brutal rape”

By Mark | November 1, 2018

[Online activist Claude Taylor rides the Holliday Inn elevator with pro-Trump grifters Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman after inflating his giant rat in the hotel’s parking lot.]

I know I should be writing about the soaring federal deficit and Republican efforts to eliminate protections for pre-existing conditions, but I feel obligated to follow up on something that we were discussing yesterday… the poorly executed plot by right-wing conspiracy theorists Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman to frame special prosecutor Robert Mueller for the crime of rape.

As promised, Wohl and Burkman held their big press conference today, and it went just abut as poorly as we all imagined that it would, starting with Mueller’s alleged victim not showing up, and ending with Wohl being fired from The Gateway Pundit, the right-wing website for which he worked as a columnist. [Let this be a lesson to all the professional right-wing trolls. It’s one thing to suggest, using a ton of coded racist language, that George Soros may be financing a caravan of would-be immigrants from South America, who may be disease-ridden terrorists, who may want to murder our families. It’s quite another to call the former Director of the FBI a serial rapist. The latter opens one up to incredible legal exposure, the likes of which could very easily cost one their job. The other just leads to racist bloodshed and mass murder.]

Today’s press conference was a fucking mess from the get-go. Burkman walked to the podium, his zipper completely undone, declaring that his client, who was “brutally raped” by former FBI Director Mueller, would not be appearing, as was promised. Burkman and Wohl then explained that she would not be coming forward as she was “fearful for her life,” and did not want to be identified. Then, almost immediately, they proceeded to give her name. “Carolyne Cass,” they said, “is a gal who has an illustrious background… (having) gone to schools all over the world.” [People in the audience laughed out lout at this.] Here’s brief clip from the press conference, to give you a sense as to just how poorly thought out and executed this whole thing was.

If you’d like to know more about what transpired, I’d suggest reading the Twitter feeds of Alexander Nazaryan of Yahoo News, Will Sommer of the Daily Beast, Jared Holt of Right Wing Watch, and internet activist Claude Taylor, all of whom were on hand for the big event. With that said, though, here are a few highlights.

• Wohl, who is only 20 years old, said that “Miss Cass hired (his) firm” on behalf of her “estate,” to deal with a “matter of a dishonest accountant.” He said that, having successfully dealt with this matter, she then asked him to “see if there was anything to (her claim)” that Robert Mueller had raped her at the St. Regis Hotel on, or around, August 2, 2010. It wasn’t exactly clear why Cass would reach out to a boy with no experience in such things, who was really only known to most people as the youngest person ever to earn lifetime ban from participating in U.S. financial markets, to investigate a “dishonest account,” or why she’d then turn around and hire that same person to verify her rape claim, but, according to Wohl, that’s exactly what happened. [Do people generally hire private detectives to verify whether or not there’s “anything to” their rape claims? Admittedly, I don’t have a lot of experience in this area, but that seems odd to me.]

• In making the case that he believed the narrative attributed to Cass, Wohl said that, as “the biggest skeptic in the world of the MeToo movement” his “default is to not believe the accuser.” In this case, though, he said they’d throughly vetted every aspect of her story, and everything, according to him, had checked out. Given the fact that, during the press conference, the two men couldn’t even agree to the spelling of the woman’s name, I’m doubtful how thorough their fact-checking was, but, channelling Donald Trump, they said they found “her credibility to be very high, very high.” [Getting back to my last point, does anyone else find it odd that the 20 year old Wohl repeatedly referred to this alleged rape victim as a “gal”?]

• At some point during the proceedings, Burkman said of Wohl, “I think Jacob is a child prodigy who has eclipsed Mozart.” A heckler, at this point, I believe, then yelled out that Wohl, given the previously mentioned ban from the futures market, “couldn’t even open an eTrade account.”

• Asked about his involvement with Surefire Intelligence, the shell company through which, it would appear, Wohl had been reaching out to women and offering cash in return for false stories about being sexually attacked by Robert Mueller, and why he’d denied any involvement with the company until it was discovered that the Surefire site had be registered with his mother’s phone number, the young rat fucker responded that, “It was important that (he) preserve (his) anonymity” at the time, given the status of the investigation. [According to the Surefire site, the company was launched by former intelligence agents in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. These people, it would appear, never existed. And how enormous of a coincidence is it that, while Wohl was reaching out to women, offering them money to lie about being sexually attacked by Mueller, this existing client of his, Carolyne Case, just happened to ask him to investigate a rape charge against Mueller? Small world, right?]

• As people pointed out during the press conference, on the date that Wohl and Burkman claim that their client was “brutally raped” by the Robert Mueller in New York City, it’s well established that the former Director of the FBI was was in Washington, DC, having been called for jury duty.

• At some point, a member of the audience yelled out, “Are you both prepared for federal prison?” Burkman replied that they were not.

• Wohl claimed that a number of photos of him on the internet had been faked. He was particularly upset by one that appears to show him “in a corn costume.”

I know that I don’t need to tell you this, but this is why, come Tuesday, you really need to vote, and restore some degree of integrity to Washington. What we saw today is just a taste of what’s to come if we allow Trumpism to continue unchecked. There truly is no bottom when it comes to how far these con men and grifters will go when it comes to ingratiating themselves to Trump and his wealthy corporate enablers, who are desperate to remain in control. And, I’m afraid that, if we don’t stop them, and do so decisively, society may not survive.

I should add that, unlike Wohl and Burkman, I really do take allegations of sexual misconduct seriously, and, had this charge against Mueller come to the surface in a different way, I would not be posting this here today. As it is, though, I think it’s highly unlikely that this is credible. For this to be true, you would have to believe that, while Wohl was out looking for women to lie about Robert Mueller, an existing client of his just happened to come forward, saying that she had been raped by the former FBI director. And, what’s more, you’d have to believe that Robert Mueller had decided to head the Trump investigation, knowing full well that this was in his background, and could doom the entire enterprise. And I just don’t see how that’s possible. I know that men can do terrible, horrible things, and that’s true even of those I respect and admire. I just can’t see any scenario in which Robert Mueller, however, knowing what was on the line, would take the job as special counsel if he knew that there was something that could be used against him to scuttle the case. I just find that impossible to believe.

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