NOVEMBER 1 AND 2, 2018


NEWS AND VIEWS


THOSE BAD OLD WHITE-HAIRED FAT (BUT LICENTIOUS) REPUBLICANS ARE DOING IT AGAIN – CHEATING, I MEAN. I WONDER IF THE RUSSIANS ARE THE REAL DOERS HERE AGAIN, OR IF IT’S THE REPUBLICAN PARTY AS A WHOLE. THIS JUST SHOWS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MOST REPUBLICAN VOTERS AND AN EQUAL PERCENTAGE OF DEMOCRATS. NON-PSYCHOTIC DEMOCRATS WON’T FALL FOR THIS TRAP AS OFTEN. THEY AREN’T AS MUCH INTO “FOLLOW THE LEADER” GAMES AND OTHER GROUP-THINK PATTERNS. THEY CAN AND DO WORK AS A GROUP, BUT IN A CREATIVE WAY AND AFTER INDIVIDUAL THOUGHT USUALLY.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/twitter-deletes-thousands-of-automated-accounts-that-discouraged-midterm-voting/
CBS NEWS November 2, 2018, 7:28 PM
Twitter deletes thousands of automated accounts that discouraged midterm voting

IMAGE -- The Twitter logo is displayed on a mobile device. BETHANY CLARKE/GETTY

Twitter has deleted thousands of automated accounts that tried to discourage users from voting in the upcoming midterm elections, the company confirmed Friday. The accounts originated in the U.S. and were determined to be more mischievous than an organized plot.

"We removed a series of accounts for engaging in attempts to share disinformation in an automated fashion — a violation of our policies," a Twitter spokesperson said. "We stopped this quickly and at its source."

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) flagged the malicious accounts to Twitter officials, Reuters reports. The tweets included several that said male Democrats should refrain from voting to avoid drowning out the voices of women, sources told the news agency.

"For the election this year we have established open lines of communication and direct, easy escalation paths* for state election officials, DHS, and campaign organizations from both major parties," the Twitter spokesperson said.

Earlier this year, Twitter reportedly suspended 70 million fake and suspicious accounts and identified 3,814 accounts that were believed to be propaganda from the Russian government-linked Internet Research Agency.

The accounts were taken down in late September and early October, Reuters reports.

© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

ESCALATION PATHS* -- “IN THE SENTENCE THAT THE OP PROVIDES, THE PHRASE 'ESCALATION PATHS' REFERS TO CHAINS OF HIGHER-RANKED INDIVIDUALS THAT AN EMPLOYEE CAN CONSULT TO RESOLVE A PROBLEM THAT THEY DON'T HAVE THE POWER OR RESOURCES TO ADDRESS THEMSELVES. MAR 16, 2015” -- https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/233910/what-is-the-meaning-of-escalation-path.

EVERY TURN I TAKE THERE IS ANOTHER STONE IN MY NON-ESCALATED PATH. I LOOKED UP “OP” – ANOTHER UNEXPLAINED ACRONYM -- AND FOUND A POSSIBLE AT https://www.acronymfinder.com/Business/OP.html. IT DOESN’T MEAN “OUT OF PRINT,” OR “OCEAN PACIFIC,” BUT IT MAY VERY WELL MEAN “OPINION.” I REALLY DO WISH OUR CULTURE COULD GO BACK TO USING LEGITIMATE ENGLISH WORDS.


ABOUT THE PITTSBURGH MASS MURDERER, HE’S TRYING TO GET OFF EASILY, I SEE. JURIES USUALLY DECIDE DEATH OR LIFE IMPRISONMENT. IT WOULD BE INTERESTING IF HE GOT ONE OF THOSE “CREATIVE” JUDGES WHO GIVE BIZARRE SENTENCES. GENERALLY, I DON’T APPROVE OF THOSE, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE HIM GET LIFE WITH NO PAROLE IN A HARD TIME INSTITUTION – WHICHEVER IS THE TOUGHEST -- AND WITH THIS MANDATORY PHYSICAL PUNISHMENT IN ADDITION – A STAR OF DAVID TATTOOED ON HIS CHEST AND HIS BACK.

IF BOWERS CAN GET HIS LAWYERS TO PICK JURORS VERY CLEVERLY, HE MAY GET OUT OF THE DEATH PENALTY. IF NOT, I DOUBT IT. OF COURSE TRUMP MAY HAVE THE CHUTZPAH TO PARDON HIM. WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF HE DID THAT? HE MIGHT GET A CHANCE TO SEE SOME REAL DEMOCRATIC “MOBS.”

NOTE: SEE THE REALLY INTERESTING LEGAL INFORMATION BELOW.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-46062277
Pittsburgh shooting: Robert Bowers pleads not guilty
NOVEMBER 1, 2018 41 minutes ago

PHOTOGRAPH -- Flowers placed at memorials outside of the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh EPA

Robert Bowers, the alleged gunman accused of killing 11 Jewish worshippers at a Pittsburgh synagogue on Saturday has pleaded not guilty.

Mr Bowers, 46, has requested a jury trial.

He faces 44 counts of murder, hate crimes, obstructing religious practices and other crimes. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

Authorities called the attack on the Tree of Life synagogue the worst anti-Semitic incident in US history.

RELATED:
US synagogue shooting: Who is Robert Bowers?
Synagogue shooting victims' funerals start
Pittsburgh shooting 'will not break us'

Media caption -- Rabbi Doris Dyen: 'I'm broken and I can't pray'
In addition to those killed, six people were injured, including four police officers, before Mr Bowers surrendered to law enforcement.

What charges does he face?
US media reported Mr Bowers entered the courtroom without a wheelchair, bandaged on the arm from the injuries suffered during a shootout with police on Saturday.

With a loud "yes!" Mr Bowers confirmed he had read the indictment and understood the charges against him. He reportedly had no reaction when told he faced the death penalty.

The federal indictment alleges Mr Bowers walked into the synagogue with multiple firearms, ranted about wanting to "kill Jews" and then began gunning down worshippers, as well as firing on police when they arrived.

During his first court appearance, Mr Bowers was in a wheelchair and spoke little.

On Wednesday, US prosecutors added a further 15 charges to the 29 Mr Bowers already faces, making a total of 44.

The additional counts against Mr Bowers were for assaulting police officers and also included special findings to support the case for pursuing the death penalty, US media reported.

According to an affidavit, Mr Bowers told police immediately after his arrest that "he wanted all Jews to die".

Social media accounts purported to be Mr Bowers' also featured anti-Semitic slurs and anti-immigrant sentiments, including a post saying "I can't sit by and watch…Screw your optics, I'm going in," that was uploaded just before the shooting.

The charges Mr Bowers faces are:

11 counts of obstructing free exercise of religious beliefs, resulting in death
11 counts of using a firearm to commit murder
11 counts of use of a firearm during a crime of violence
8 counts of obstructing free exercise of religious beliefs involving an attempt to kill a public safety officer
2 counts of obstructing free exercise of religious beliefs involving an attempt to kill
1 count of obstructing free exercise of religious beliefs with a dangerous weapon resulting in injury to an officer

Image copyrightAFP
Image caption
Community members hold candles at a vigil for the victims of the Pittsburgh Synagogue shooting at Cambridge City Hall in Cambridge, Massachusetts

The 11 victims
Funerals for the 11 victims began on Tuesday.

Vigils and memorial services continue to take place across the country.

The victims ranged in age from 54 to 97 years old.

Joyce Fienberg, 75
Richard Gottfried, 65
Rose Mallinger, 97
Jerry Rabinowitz, 66
Cecil Rosenthal, 59
David Rosenthal, 54, brother of Cecil
Bernice Simon, 84
Sylvan Simon, 86, husband of Bernice
Daniel Stein, 71
Melvin Wax, 88
Irving Younger, 69
On Thursday, funerals for the couple Bernice and Sylvan Simon and Richard Gottfried were held.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death-qualified_jury
Death-qualified jury
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

“A death-qualified jury is a jury in a criminal law case in the United States in which the death penalty is a prospective sentence. Such a jury will be composed of jurors who:

Are not categorically opposed to the imposition of capital punishment;
Are not of the belief that the death penalty must be imposed in all instances of capital murder—that is, they would consider life imprisonment as a possible penalty.

The creation of such a jury requires the striking during voir dire of jurors who express opposition to the death penalty such that they are unable or unwilling to set aside personal, moral, or emotional objections toward the supporting of a death sentence, and is designed to produce a fair and impartial jury of which the members will fairly consider all options, including the death penalty and life imprisonment.

Expressing opposition to the death penalty does not automatically disqualify a juror. A party may attempt to rehabilitate the juror by asking questions as to whether, personal convictions notwithstanding, they might consider the death penalty. A juror who expresses exorbitant support for the death penalty who would thus otherwise be struck may be rehabilitated should they state a willingness to consider life imprisonment.

The use of a death-qualified jury was found to be consistent with the United States Constitution, most especially with the Sixth Amendment thereto, by the Supreme Court of the United States in Witherspoon v. Illinois,[1] and in Lockhart v. McCree;[2] neither decision, though, mandated the use of death-qualified juries as against those containing jurors categorically unwilling to impose a penalty of death. It is in view of the Witherspoon decision that the process of one's death-qualifying a jury is, in the United States, referred to colloquially as Witherspooning a jury.

A poll commissioned by the Death Penalty Information Center on June 9, 2007, showed 57% of Americans believed they would qualify to be jurors in capital cases.[3]

Bias
The bias imposed by the rule goes beyond the application of the death penalty itself. Several studies have found that death-qualified juries are made up of fewer women and minorities. Death-qualified juries are often criticized because they have a similar effect as excluding jurors based on race or gender,[4] which intentional exclusion, in Batson v. Kentucky in 1986, was held as inconsistent with the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Empirical evidence adduced in Lockhart also has shown that death-qualified juries are more likely than other jurors to convict a defendant.[5] That is, death-qualified jurors are more likely than non-death-qualified jurors to vote for conviction when assessing the same sets of facts. It is argued that since death-qualified juries overrepresent these groups there is a propensity to render guilty verdicts on cases of any type, including those in which the death penalty is not considered.”


IT SEEMS THAT BERNIE HAS BEEN HOLDING HIMSELF IN CHECK UNTIL NOW. THE FACT THAT HIS FOLLOWERS HAVE STARTED SLAUGHTERING JEWS FOR FUN NOW MAY BE THE REASON. HE ISN’T RELIGIOUS, HE HAS SAID, BUT HE IS FROM THE JEWISH TRADITION AND I IMAGINE IT IS QUITE PAINFUL FOR HIM TO SEE SUCH THINGS. HE SAID IN ONE INTERVIEW THAT A NUMBER OF HIS FAMILY MEMBERS DIED IN THE HOLOCAUST.

I HAVE ONLY KNOWN SOME HALF DOZEN JEWISH PEOPLE WELL, BUT I RESPECTED THEM AND ENJOYED BEING AROUND THEM. THEY ARE ALMOST UNIVERSALLY CLEVER AND STRAIGHTFORWARD IN THE WAY THEY DEAL WITH PEOPLE. THE CHARGE THAT THEY CHEAT IN BUSINESS IS NOT BORNE OUT IN THE REAL WORLD THAT I CAN SEE. THE FACT IS THAT BUSINESS PEOPLE ARE ALL LIKELY TO BE DISHONEST, AS A BASIC MEANS OF GETTING AHEAD. WHY PASS UP A ANOTHER DOLLAR?

THAT’S WHY MY PREFERRED BACKGROUND FOR A POLITICIAN IS NOT BUSINESS, BUT LAW. MOST JEWS ARE INTELLECTUALLY INCLINED, AND POLITICALLY LIBERAL. THEY MAY HAVE MONEY OR NOT, ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS. SANDERS DID NOT COME FROM WEALTHY PEOPLE, AND THAT IS WHY HE IS SO HIGHLY COMMITTED TO THE SYSTEMS THAT HELP PEOPLE MAKE A LIVING, SUCH AS UNIONS. HE WANTS TO LEVEL THE PLAYING FIELD, AND SO DO I.

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/414133-bernie-sanders-calls-trump-most-racist-sexist-homophobic-bigoted-president
Bernie Sanders calls Trump 'most racist, sexist, homophobic, bigoted president in history'
BY TAL AXELROD - 10/31/18 03:36 PM EDT

VIDEO -- Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Tuesday went after President Trump, calling him “the most racist, sexist, homophobic, bigoted president in history" during a campaign event for Maryland gubernatorial candidate Ben Jealous (D).

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Tuesday went after President Trump, calling him “the most racist, sexist, homophobic, bigoted president in history" during a campaign event for Maryland gubernatorial candidate Ben Jealous (D).

Campaign staffers “are working to make sure that the agenda of the most racist, sexist, homophobic, bigoted president in history will go nowhere because Democrats will control the House and the Senate,” Sanders said of campaigns across the country.

Trump’s rhetoric has been thrust to the center of a national debate over the country’s political divide, with critic’s suggesting Trump bears some responsibility for the climate that led to explosive devices being sent to the president’s critics and a shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue Saturday that killed 11 worshippers.

The White House has condemned both the mailed explosive devices and the Pittsburgh shooting while denying any culpability.

“I think it's irresponsible to blame the president and members of his administration for those heinous acts,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said at a press briefing Monday.

Sanders is considering another presidential run in 2020, refusing to commit to serving a full six-year term if he is reelected Tuesday, as is expected.

“Right now, my focus is on the year 2018, but if you’re asking me to make an absolute pledge as to whether I’ll be running for president or not, I’m not going to make that pledge. The simple truth is I have not made that decision. But I’m not going to sit here and tell you that I may not run. I may. But on the other hand, I may not,” he said at a forum Monday night in Vermont.

Should Sanders run, he will likely be joining a large group of Democratic candidates seeking to prove their anti-Trump bona fides.


THIS IS A GOOD ONE. WHILE I DON’T LOVE PAUL RYAN’S IDEAS, I DO SEE HIM AS INTELLIGENT AND COURAGEOUS, THOUGH NOT NECESSARILY ETHICAL. AS FOR PRESIDENT TRUMP HIMSELF, HIS HELPING TO “HOLD THE MAJORITY” IS A BELLY LAUGH.” HE’S THE WORST INFLUENCE ON PUBLIC OPINION THAT WE HAVE ALIVE TODAY, SECOND ONLY TO SOME IN THE BAD OLD DAYS LIKE RICHARD NIXON, GEORGE WALLACE, ETC.

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/414347-gop-infighting-spills-into-public-view
GOP infighting spills into public view
BY MELANIE ZANONA - 11/01/18 02:44 PM EDT

Republican infighting has spilled out into public view less than one week before the midterm elections.

President Trump on Wednesday unleashed a stunning Twitter attack* on Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), accusing the retiring lawmaker of not doing enough to protect the lower chamber’s majority.

Earlier this week, conservative Rep. Steve King’s (R-Iowa) racially insensitive remarks and support of white nationalist politicians earned a sharp and rare rebuke from the head of the House GOP’s campaign arm, increasing pressure on other leaders to follow suit.

And scores of Republicans have openly rejected Trump’s call to end birthright citizenship via executive order, a controversial plan that has divided the GOP and further inflamed GOP tensions over immigration policy.

The intraparty feuds, while hardly unusual for the Trump era, point to heightened tensions as control of the House appears to be slipping away from the GOP. It also threatens to distract Republicans and derail messaging plans while offering a preview of the finger-pointing that is likely to occur should Republicans suffer brutal electoral losses next week.

“Republicans have a great economic message they can — and are trying to — run on. The birthright citizenship non-issue came out of nowhere and managed to further knock Republicans off message,” said Doug Heye, a GOP strategist and former spokesman for the Republican National Committee (RNC).

“Trump’s shot at Ryan came while he has been campaigning tirelessly for GOP candidates, and causes Republican candidates to then respond to the latest Trump tweet, instead of sticking to their campaign plan.”

Others agreed that the bickering was unhelpful, but ultimately predicted the “inside-the-Beltway dispute” wouldn’t have an impact, especially so close to Election Day.

The last time Trump attacked Ryan on Twitter was Oct. 16, 2016 — just weeks before Republicans won unified control of Washington.

“This argument is a sideshow and unhelpful, but most voters have made up their minds how they are going to vote,” said Ron Bonjean, a longtime Republican strategist and partner at Rokk Solutions. “Because this is a base election, GOP conservative voters remain energized going into the final stretch and aren’t going to sit this one out over an inside-the-Beltway dispute.”

The escalating tensions come as Democrats are feeling increasingly confident about their chances of taking back the House, citing Trump’s plunging approval rating, their mega fundraising numbers and a string of late district polls that have broke [sic] their way.

The Cook Political Report revised its election forecast on Wednesday to predict that Democrats would pick up 30 to 40 seats — up from 25 to 35 last month — though the handicapper noted that its projection could change again before Election Day. Democrats need to flip 23 seats to win back the House.

With the GOP on edge in the home stretch, Republicans are starting to lash out at one another.

The president, just six days before voters head to the polls, slammed Ryan on Twitter for dismissing his birthright citizenship plan and urged the retiring Speaker to focus on protecting the House majority.

Ryan made the comments while on the campaign trail stumping for 25 vulnerable House Republicans in 12 states.

“Paul Ryan should be focusing on holding the Majority rather than giving his opinions on Birthright Citizenship, something he knows nothing about! Our new Republican Majority will work on this, Closing the Immigration Loopholes and Securing our Border!” Trump tweeted.

The broadside was interpreted by many on Capitol Hill as an effort by Trump to make Ryan a scapegoat should the GOP lose its House majority next week, though Ryan’s allies and Republican strategists scoffed at the notion.

“I’m pretty sure holding the majority is Trump’s problem now, not Ryan’s, and Trump has made that job much harder for himself with this move,” said GOP strategist Liz Mair.

Earlier in the week, another internal fight burst into public view after Rep. Steve Stivers (R-Ohio), chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), condemned King for his support of white nationalist candidates.

“Congressman Steve King’s recent comments, actions, and retweets are completely inappropriate,” tweeted Stivers, a member of Ryan’s leadership team. “We must stand up against white supremacy and hate in all forms, and I strongly condemn this behavior.”

The reprimand from the head of the House GOP’s campaign arm was remarkable, given that King’s race has grown increasingly competitive, with Cook* now rating his once reliably red seat as “lean Republican.”

King, who placed his first TV ad buy on Thursday, was quick to fire back.

“These attacks are orchestrated by nasty, desperate, and dishonest fake news. Their ultimate goal is to flip the House and impeach Donald Trump,” he wrote in a statement posted to Twitter. “Establishment Never Trumpers are complicit."

While the spat has exposed internal tensions, some strategists believe that the campaign chairman’s willingness to stand up to King could actually be helpful for the party, especially as Trump battles accusations that his inflammatory rhetoric helped contribute to an ugly political climate that has turned violent.

But it has also ratcheted pressure on other Republicans to condemn King — an uncomfortable position for some candidates.

Further inflaming divisions among Republicans is Trump’s push to energize the base with hard-line immigration policies. The strategy, which includes stoking fear about a “caravan” of Central American migrants slowly headed for the U.S. border, could boost Senate GOP candidates, but hurt the party’s chances in key suburban swing districts in the House contest.

Trump escalated the rhetoric even further Tuesday when he announced a proposal to end citizenship for babies of noncitizens who are born on U.S. soil.

But the controversial plan rattled the GOP and was immediately met with pushback from members of Trump’s own party, from conservative hard-liners like House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) to centrist Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.).

“Birthright citizenship is protected by the Constitution, so no @realDonaldTrump you can’t end it by executive order,” tweeted Curbelo, an outspoken Trump critic who is facing a fierce reelection battle. “What we really need is broad immigration reform that makes our country more secure and reaffirms our wonderful tradition as a nation of immigrants.”

Trump again sparked outrage on Wednesday when he touted a controversial immigration ad, which features clips from the expletive-laden trial of Luis Bracamontes, a deported Mexican man who returned to the U.S. and killed two sheriff’s deputies, alongside footage of the caravan.

Trump’s critics, including some Republicans, decried the ad as racist, while other GOP candidates like Curbelo avoided using the term while criticizing the messaging effort.

“This is a sickening ad. Republicans everywhere should denounce it,” tweeted Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), a frequent Trump critic who is retiring.

It’s hardly the closing argument — or picture of unity — that some in the party were hoping to project in the final days of the midterm election.

“I can’t imagine anybody in a close district wants the closing argument to be immigration,” retiring Rep. Ryan Costello (R-Pa.) told a CNN reporter. “Your local message is in competition with what the president is talking about.”

“Cook*” -- Cook Political Report. See above.


THERE ARE SO MANY BIZARRE IDEOLOGIES. IF IT CAN BE IMAGINED, IT MAY BE ESPOUSED. THIS SHERIFF, WHEN HE SAW THIS ONE, STEPPED IN AND STOPPED IT. HOORAY FOR SHERIFF KNEZOVICH!

WHEN AND HOW WAS THIS “DISTRIBUTED?” LEAFLETS? “SERMON” FOR WHOM? THIS ISN’T MY KIND OF BIBLE READING, BUT IT FITS ACCORDING TO THE FBI WITH THE CHRISTIAN IDENTITY/ARYAN NATIONS PHILOSOPHY AND ACTION PLAN. SHEA GIVES THE MOST COMMON SELF-DEFENSE WHEN CAUGHT IN THE ACT” – “IT WAS TAKEN OUT OF CONTEXT.” I WONDER HOW THE REPUBLICAN PARTY WILL REACT TO THIS STORY?

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/414450-fbi-investigating-washington-state-rep-for-manifesto-urging-all-males
FBI investigating Washington state rep. for manifesto urging ‘all males will be killed’
BY JOHN BOWDEN - 11/01/18 09:13 PM EDT

SCREENGRAB -- © Facebook: Matt Shea

The FBI says it's investigating a Washington state Republican who distributed a manifesto calling for "war" against enemies of the Christian religion.

The document, a four-page explanation of how to establish Christian law through armed struggle, calls for the end of same-sex marriage, abortion, and the death of all non-Christian males in the U.S. if religious law is not upheld.

“If they do not yield – kill all males," the document reads.

FBI representatives told local NBC affiliate KHQ 6 that it is investigating the document, which was reported to to the bureau by Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich, who told the news station that he felt the post was dangerous.

“The document Mr. Shea wrote is not a Sunday school project or an academic study,” Knezovich added to the Washington Spokesman-Review. “It is a ‘how to’ manual consistent with the ideology and operating philosophy of the Christian Identity/Aryan Nations movement and the Redoubt movement of the 1990s.”

Shea defended the document in a Facebook Live post this week, calling it part of a "sermon" and taken out of context as a call for violence.

“First of all, it was a summary of a series of sermons on biblical war in the Old Testament as part of a larger discussion on the history of warfare,” he said on Wednesday.

“This document, in and of itself, was not a secret. I’ve actually talked about portions of this document publicly.”

Shea, who is running for reelection, has lost at least one campaign donor over the controversy. A spokeswoman for the Northwest Credit Union Association told Spokane Public Radio that the group had requested the return of a $1,000 donation to Shea's campaign.

“His beliefs do not reflect the views and values of our organization, member credit unions or customers,” the spokeswoman said.


SHEA’S “BIBLICAL BASIS FOR WAR” IS BELOW. READ THIS. IT’S SIMILAR TO THE “OATH KEEPERS” AND HAS AN ULTRAMACHO, BUT MYSTICAL QUALITY TO IT, BUT IT’S THE PAGAN KIND OF MYSTICISM, SCARY, IN OTHER WORDS. SEE BOTH “SPOKESMAN” AND MOTHER JONES BELOW. BOTH ARE SEMI-MILITARY AND SEMI-RELIGIOUS, AND VERY MUCH ON THE EDGE EMOTIONALLY. I AM DELIGHTED THAT A SHERIFF CAUGHT THIS.

FOR THE FOUR PAGE DOCUMENT IN QUESTION, GO TO:
www.spokesman.com.


https://www.spokesman.com/documents/2018/oct/25/biblical-basis-war/
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2018
Biblical Basis for War

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2010/02/oath-keepers/
Oath Keepers and the Age of Treason
Glenn Beck loves them. Tea Partiers court them. Congressmen listen to them. Meet the fast-growing “patriot” group that’s recruiting soldiers to resist the Obama administration.
JUSTINE SHARROCKMARCH/APRIL 2010 ISSUE


THE BEST QUOTATION OF THE DAY, COMES FROM GILLAM, “I'M NOT CALLING MR DESANTIS A RACIST," MR GILLUM QUICKLY COUNTERED. "I'M SIMPLY SAYING THE RACISTS BELIEVE HE'S A RACIST."

HERE GOES THAT “MOB” THING AGAIN. DO WATCH THIS VIDEO. THE “PEOPLE” WHO ATTACKED HIM WERE ALL WOMEN AND THERE WERE ONLY THREE OR FOUR OF THEM. ONE WAS CLEARLY TRYING TO GRAB HIS MEGAPHONE. SOMEHOW (NOT SHOWN IN THE VIDEO) HE DID END UP ON THE GROUND. MAYBE THEY SHOVED HIM DOWN AND MAYBE HE IS JUST CLUMSY. OF COURSE, HE IS A SLIGHTLY BUILT LITTLE GUY. MAYBE HE NEEDS A BODYGUARD WHEN HE GOES OUT TO HARASS PEOPLE. MOST OF THOSE PROUD BOYS DON’T GO ALONE, PERHAPS THEY KNOW THAT THEY MAY MEET A GROUP OF THE BLACK-CLAD ANTIFA FIGHTERS. PROUD BOY OR NOT, I’M SURE HE CAN’T FIGHT. HE WAS USING A MEGAPHONE WHILE GILLUM WAS SPEAKING, AND USING ANTI-JEWISH DOG WHISTLES BY INVOKING THE NAME OF GEORGE SOROS. HOW SILLY. HE WAS NOT HURT OR EVEN HIT, THAT I SAW. THE WOMEN TRIED TO PUSH HIM AWAY AND GET HIS MEGAPHONE. STILL, GILLUM APOLOGIZED. I’M NOT SURE HE SHOULD HAVE.

THIS IS A CLEAR CONNECTION OF THE PROUD BOYS WITH TRUMPIAN RIGHTISTS, WHO IN THE PAST HAVE BEEN ARRESTED FOR STARTING FIGHTS AT FAR RIGHT RALLIES. IT SEEMS THEY WILL START A FIGHT ANYWHERE FOR A FEE. WHAT AN HONORABLE PROFESSION! IT IS YET ANOTHER TOTALLY DISHONEST REPUBLICAN TACTIC WHICH SHOULD BE ILLEGAL. GILLUM NEEDS TO HAVE A POLICE PRESENCE AT HIS RALLIES, PERHAPS, AND HECKLERS SHOULD BE ESCORTED OUT IMMEDIATELY AS THEY ARE AT MOST RALLIES. WHEN THE NUDE LADY TRAIPSED AROUND AT SANDERS RALLY, SHE WAS ARRESTED.

https://www.tampabay.com/florida-politics/buzz/2018/10/20/alt-right-florida-gop-operative-complains-he-was-assaulted-while-taunting-people-at-andrew-gillum-rally/
Far right Florida GOP operative complains he was assaulted while taunting people at Andrew Gillum rally
The "Proud Boys" member said he faced a "violent mob" while heckling Democrats during Gillum's speech
By Adam C. Smith Oct. 20, 2018

PHOTOGRAPH -- Democratic gubernatorial nominee Andrew Gillum addresses a crowd at Waterworks Park in Tampa Friday afternoon.

UPDATE: We changed the headline on this post after an attorney for Proud Boys said the term "alt right" is an incorrect description of the group.

An Orlando-based Republican consultant and member of the far right Proud Boys group, attended Andrew Gillum's women's rally in Tampa Friday night, shouting into a megaphone about billionaire liberal George Soros as Gillum addressed the crowed. Video footage showed several people shoving the man, Jacob Engels, and/or trying to knock the megaphone from his hands.

Engels, a provocateur and close associate of fellow InfoWars contributor Roger Stone, used to attack Republican Ron DeSantis during the GOP primary. He said a "violent mob" of Gillum supporters assaulted him Friday, part of a narrative many Republicans across the country are using lately about Democrats. Engels also accused Gillum supporters of being homophobic because he is gay.

Jacob Engels
@JacobEngels
I was assaulted by @AndrewGillum supporters as a gay journalist covering his violent mob. Denounce this rabid attack or admit you condone violence Andrew... the world is watching!

11:32 PM - Oct 19, 2018
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Andrew Gillum had this to say:

"We condemn the provocation and physical confrontation that was seen at the rally in Tampa Bay, yesterday," Gillum said. "The actions of those involved is not exemplary of the campaign we have built and, in fact, is exactly the kind of politics we are running against. Voters all across this state have supported our campaign because we are seeking to bring people together and that is what we will continue to do in the final 17 days of this election and everyday in the Governor's office."

The confrontrations ended within a few minutes, and then Engels went back to trying to disrupt Gillum's remarks to the crowd.

"Andrew Gillum, why did you let people assault me!?," he shouted in his megaphone.


GILLUM V DE SANTIS IS A FIERCE COMPETITION FOR GOVERNOR OF FLORIDA. RON DE SANTIS IS THE “CONSERVATIVE” REPUBLICAN WHO MADE THE “MONKEY THIS UP” COMMENT THAT MADE THE NATIONAL NEWS RECENTLY. SEE ALSO THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE ON “PROUD BOYS, REFERRED TO AS “REPUBLICAN OPERATIVES.” I WONDER IF THAT HAS BEEN PROVEN. IF IT HAS, THE REPUBLICAN PARTY SHOULD BE HELD LIABLE, I THINK. COULD THE RICO LAW AGAINST RACKETEERING BE USED FOR THIS?

I’M NOT SURPRISED, BUT IF THIS ARTICLE IS ACCURATE, THE PARTY COULD BE IN LEGAL TROUBLE, BECAUSE THREE MEMBERS OF THE PROUD BOYS GROUP HAVE BEEN ARRESTED FOR COORDINATED ASSAULTS AT A NUMBER OF POLITICAL RALLIES. THEY ACTUALLY ARRANGE WITH EACH OTHER TO APPEAR IN SMALL COOPERATIVE GROUPS TO MINGLE IN POLITICAL RALLIES AND START FIGHTS. IT COULD JUST BE BAD BOYZ BEING BAD, BUT IT IS MORE LIKELY PURPOSEFUL REPUBLICAN PLANNING AND INTERFERENCE WITH FAIR AND FREE ELECTIONS.

ROGER STONE, OF INFOWARS AND DONALD TRUMP FAME, IS LINKED WITH THEM. IT’S A GREAT DEAL LIKE THE KKK VISITING BLACK NEIGHBORHOODS TO INTIMIDATE THE PEOPLE THERE. THE “POLL WATCHERS” ARE PROBABLY AROUND AT THE VOTING SITE ASKING HISPANIC PEOPLE IF THEY ARE CITIZENS, DEMANDING TO SEE PAPERS, OR IF THEY ARE ABLE TO VOTE LEGALLY. THAT’S NOT POLL WATCHING BUT IT IS INTIMIDATION. IN FACT, WE NEED TO CRIMINALIZE THE ENTIRE CONCEPT OF “POLL WATCHERS,” UNLESS THEY ARE FEDERALLY APPOINTED AND SUPERVISED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF ELECTIONS. 90% OF THE CRIME AROUND ELECTIONS IS, FROM WHAT I’VE SEEN, INVOLVED WITH STATE AND LOCAL PEOPLE RATHER THAN THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. UNTIL THE CITIZENS UNITED SUPREME COURT DECISION, CERTAIN MAINLY SOUTHERN STATES WERE INDEED FEDERALLY MANAGED, BECAUSE THEY HAD A LONG HISTORY OF SUPPRESSION OF MINORITY VOTING.

THAT’S WHERE THE GERRYMANDERING OCCURS, TOO, WHICH IS AN ONGOING PROBLEM. THE STATES SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO SUPERVISE THAT REALIGNMENT OF DISTRICT BOUNDARIES, EITHER, THOUGH I CAN SEE HOW CHANGES IN THAT SHOULD BE MADE TO RESPOND TO POPULATION SHIFTS. HOW MUCH SIMPLER OUR ELECTIONS WOULD BE WITHOUT ALL THAT LOCALIZED INTERFERENCE IN GENERAL. I’M FOR A PLEBISCITE TYPE VOTING PATTERN INSTEAD OF OUR DISTRICT PATTERN, AND ESPECIALLY NOT BEING DOMINATED BY THE PARTY IN POWER.

THERE IS SUCH A “WINNER TAKE ALL” RULE IN OUR POLITICS IN GENERAL THAT EVERY THING FROM THE LEGISLATURE IN WASHINGTON TO THE STATES ARE RIGGED AGAINST THE PEOPLE. I WOULD BE INTERESTED IN SEEING HOW AN OPEN VOTING SYSTEM WOULD WORK INSTEAD. OF COURSE, I CAN SEE FEDERAL OVERSEERS BECOMING CORRUPTED ALSO, BUT GENERALLY IT IS THE LOCALIZED “GOOD OLD BOY” SYSTEM THAT CAUSES MOST OF IT. IT’S LIKE THE MAFIA FAMILIES. VERY FEW OF THE MEMBERS CAN BE TRUSTED.

THE REPUBLICAN PARTY HAS BEEN INTO OVERTLY ILLEGAL OPERATIONS AT LEAST SINCE TRUMP WAS ELECTED. OR IS TOTALLY CROOKED OR UNFAIR ELECTIONEERING ACTUALLY A CRIME, SEPARATE FROM MISUSE OF FUNDS, ETC.? IT NEEDS TO BE. A PROHIBITION, NO MATTER HOW SOLEMN OR HOW ANGRY, IS NOTHING WITHOUT EFFECTIVE PENALTIES, AND THE BOUNDARIES OF OUR PERSONAL FREEDOMS NEED TO BE DRAWN IN SUCH A WAY AS TO FENCE OUT CRIMINAL ACTIONS. FREEDOM OF SPEECH ISSUES SHOULD NOT ALLOW CRIME/CORRUPTION TO FLOURISH.

SO MANY THINGS IN THIS COUNTRY ARE SINS OR POOR ETHICS, BUT NOT CRIMES. EVEN IF YOU CAN FILE A LAWSUIT, THAT IS BEYOND THE REACH OF THE POOR. I WANT TO SEE SOME CHARGES BROUGHT AGAINST THE PARTY OR ITS’ SPECIFIC MEMBERS, EVEN IF WE HAVE TO REVISE OUR ELECTION LAWS TO DO IT, AND ELECTIONS AND VOTER REGISTRATION LAWS NEED TO BE FEDERALLY APPROVED, WRITTEN, SUPERVISED AND ENFORCED WITH STIFF PENALTIES, APPLYING AS STRONGLY AGAINST UNFAIR POLITICIANS AS AGAINST INDIVIDUAL CITIZENS WHO COMMIT “VOTER FRAUD.”

PURGING THE VOTER ROLLS OF PEOPLE WHOSE ADDRESS OR NAME HAS CHANGED IS VOTER FRAUD, TOO, BUT IS COMMONLY DONE BY THE CROOKED POLITICIANS FROM THE GOVERNOR ON DOWN. RICHARD NIXON IN A TELEVISED STATEMENT ASSERTED STRONGLY, “I AM NOT A CROOK!” THAT, OF COURSE IS EXACTLY WHAT HE WAS. UNFORTUNATELY, HE WAS JUST ONE OF MANY.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-46062153
An ugly, gloves-off fight that defines US election
By Anthony Zurcher
BBC News, Miami, Florida
NOVEMBER 1, 2018 52 minutes ago

PHOTO MONTAGE – THE CANDIDATES APPEARING TO FIST BUMP

Two candidates who represent the beating hearts of their party's ideological base - a left-wing progressive and a Trumpist conservative - are locked in a brawl that says much about the first US election campaign in the Trump era.

The Florida governor's race veered toward theatre of the absurd last Wednesday night, following the second debate between Democrat Andrew Gillum and Republican Ron DeSantis at the Miami area's Broward College.

The post-debate "spin-room" - that typically animated media scrum where representatives of the two candidates offer a positive take on their side's performance - devolved into a shouting match.

Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz stood cheek-to-jowl with former Miami Beach Mayor (and recently defeated Democratic governor candidate) Philip Levine, as the volume went up.

"Andrew Gillum was a liar," Gaetz exclaimed.

"We just saw Cassius Clay knock out Sonny Liston!" Levine shouted, reaching back to the famous 1964 heavyweight boxing match in Miami for his comparison of Mr Gillum to Muhammad Ali.

Media caption -- A beautiful look at an ugly race: Sights and sounds from the campaign trail in Florida

If the 2018 Florida governor's race is a prize fight for the top job in the third-largest state in America, the two contestants couldn't offer a more distinct contrast of styles and substance.

Different paths
Andrew Gillum, the 39-year-old mayor of Tallahassee - Florida's capital and seventh-largest city - was a surprise winner in the August Democratic primary, beating Mr Levine and former Congresswoman Gwen Graham (daughter of former Florida Governor and Senator Bob Graham) by 3%.

He campaigned as an avowed progressive, supporting universal government-provided healthcare, increasing public school teacher pay, a $15 minimum wage, marijuana legalisation and dismantling the controversial federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency.

In the past, Florida Democrats have tended to nominate middle-of-the-road candidates for statewide office, banking on the notion that the broadest possible appeal will garner the most votes. With Mr Gillum, they've opted for a different strategy.

Image caption
Supporters of Andrew Gillum listen during a recent debate between Mr Gillum and Ron DeSantis

"His message is that we can't continue to conduct Democratic politics the way the state has done," says Khari Pestaina, a graduate student who attended a Gillum rally at Florida International University.

"He's willing to fight , and that's what we need on the left, especially in a state like Florida, which owes so much to its people who put in the work day in and day out and don't get back much in return."

What you need to know about mid-terms:
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You choose what happens

If he wins, Mr Gillum would be the first black governor of Florida and only the third elected in US history. His campaign attracted a broad spectrum of young and minority voters - a coalition reminiscent of Barack Obama's winning Florida presidential campaigns - as the 2018 Democratic primary turnout in the state set a record high.

"There's definitely real enthusiasm around Gillum," says Steve Schale, a Florida-based political strategist who served as state director of the Obama 2008 presidential campaign.

"It's unfair to compare him to Obama, but it's enthusiasm I haven't seen a governor's race in a long time. The marriage of things that happened in 2008 is there."

Media caption Hang on, what ARE the US "mid-terms"?

On the other side of the ballot, 40-year-old Mr DeSantis - who represented the eastern Florida congressional district centred around Daytona Beach from 2013 until resigning in September - is trying to recreate Donald Trump's successful 2016 presidential campaign in the state.

Facing off against a more established Republican in his primary, Mr DeSantis touted his close ties to Mr Trump - including an influential presidential endorsement. He frequently defends Mr Trump on cable news shows, his campaign website is chock full of pictures of the then-congressman and the president, and he aired a television advert that featured him teaching his daughter how to "build a wall" out of toy blocks and reading Mr Trump's The Art of the Deal to his infant son.

As the president likes to note, Mr DeSantis is a graduate of Yale University and Harvard Law School and served as a lawyer in the US Navy, including a deployment as the legal adviser to a Seal commando team, where he was awarded a Bronze Star.

Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image caption
Trump and DeSantis embrace at a rally

"DeSantis has a pretty good record in Congress. He has a pretty good record as a human being," says Steve 'Bubba' Cohen, a former Miami financier and television personality. "This is a guy who, if you were a girl, you would want to bring home to mom."

While in Congress, Mr DeSantis was a member of the Freedom Caucus, the hard-right group of House legislators who frequently bedevilled his own party's leadership by blocking compromises with Democrats and pushing for sharp spending and tax cuts.

Schale says Mr Trump won Florida in 2016 - and helped secure the White House - by flipping suburban and exurban counties in the central part of the state that had in the past opted for Democrats.

"Trump completely changed the map," Schale says. "For DeSantis, his math is to make up for losses among independents, blacks and Hispanics by really just leaning in as hard as humanly possible to his position as the Trump backer."

Given that Republicans have controlled the Florida governor's office for 20 years, his campaign has focused on sustaining the state's currently robust economy, limiting undocumented migration, crime prevention and warnings of financial misfortune if voters opt for a progressive Democrat to lead the state.

A state divided

Within the confines of Broward College, as the two candidates prepared for their debate, the stark contrast between the two candidates left some undecided students torn.

"Both candidates are polar opposites of each other," says Rahjanni Lusi, a 32-year-old former military enlistee. "I like to see a little bit of common ground because at least we would know there's one issue that we can all move forward with."

Image caption
Rahjanni Lusi

Outside of campus, in a grassy area near the main entrance, common ground was hard to find.

In one area, a knot of a few dozen DeSantis supporters, decked out in red, white and blue and carrying a mix of homemade and official campaign signs, chanted "We want Ron!" and "USA! USA!".

One sign warned that Mr Gillum would turn Florida into Venezuela - the socialist dictatorship that has become the bogeyman of many on the right, including the president himself.

Another said "Fake News, Fake Bombs" - a reference to what was then the ongoing rash of pipe bombs delivered to Democratic politicians and supporters across the US. (Two days later, Cesar Ceyoc - an avid Trump supporter - would be arrested for the crimes just a few miles from the debate site.)

Image caption
Supporters of Ron DeSantis rally before a debate in Miami

An electronic billboard truck circled nearby, blaring patriotic songs and rotating a glossy photo of Mr DeSantis, a less flattering one of Mr Gillum and, for good measure, a photoshopped image of Hillary Clinton behind bars.

"We will lose everything if Gillum gets in," warned Medora Reading, a former small-business owner from Stuart - a town about two hours up the Florida coast - and now full-time conservative activist.

She says Mr Gillum has made a mess of Tallahassee and is a "pawn" for deep-pocketed liberal donor George Soros (one of the people targeted by the bomber).

Media caption -- The billionaire financier and philanthropist has become a divisive figure in global politics in recent years

Linda Stoch, an interior designer from Palm Beach who organised the pro-DeSantis rally and made the Venezuela sign, echoes that sentiment.

"I don't want to take the future away from my children and grandchildren," she says. "And Andrew Gillum will do that. The stakes are that high."

As the DeSantis supporters marched toward where more media were gathered, pro-Gillum activists began to gather.

The truck's "God Bless the USA" was drowned by hip-hop, and the gloomy predictions of a future with Gillum were replaced with a darker view of the current state of affairs - and hope for a change of fortune.

"Things are going great for wealthy people," says Natalia Perez Santos of For Our Future Florida, the liberal activist group that put together the Gillum rally.

Image caption
Natalia Perez Santos

"They're not going great for the average working family. Florida actually is the second-worst state for economic inequality, only behind New York."

Mr Gillum, she adds, is talking about issues people care about. "He's someone who is really able to articulate well what he would do to help families."

Trump's shadow
Edward Leuchs, a retired schoolteacher at the pre-debate demonstration, has been canvassing voters in southern Florida - typically a bastion for Democrats - and says some aren't fully engaged yet, but they're getting there.

"There are a lot of low-information voters who don't understand the difference between Democrats and Republicans," he says. "And when you say Trump is a Republican, they know they're Democrats."

Image caption
Edward Leuchs

Among the DeSantis supporters, on the other hand, the affinity for Mr Trump is overflowing.

"I love Donald Trump," says Reading*. "I am so amazed at what that man has been able to achieve with the Hollywood idiots, with the Clintons, the Democrat Party and the Republican Rinos (Republicans in Name Only)."

[You say you don’t know who “Reading” is? I don’t either, and I used my word-finder to look. It’s just another writing/editing mistake, It appears to me. He’s just another Trumpite, I assume.]

The president's presence looms over all of American politics, but his shadow is particularly long in the Florida gubernatorial race.

Mr DeSantis's ties are clear, but Mr Gillum has in part defined himself by his differences with the businessman-turned-commander-in-chief. He's repeatedly called for Mr Trump's impeachment and removal from office - a fact that became a topic of animated discussion in the first candidate debate.

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"You need to be able to work with the president, and Andrew can't do that," Mr DeSantis said. "I think I will be better positioned to advance Florida's priorities because I have a productive relationship with the administration."

Gillum countered: "This is not Russia. You shouldn't have to kiss the ring of the president of the United States for the president to see to the goodwill of the third largest state in all of America."

Early voting started in Florida more than a week ago, and both candidates are criss-crossing the state in public events and rallies. Time and again, the subject of the president comes up.

"Anybody who is a Trump supporter or follower who doesn't have the backbone to stand alone and speak out against his bizarre pronouncements and ideas, I don't want to be governor of any state, let alone Florida," says Carol Reiter, a retired schoolteacher who cast her ballot at a public library in the toney Miami Suburb of Coral Gables.

She says she likes Mr Gillum, but the opportunity to "stick a finger in Trump's eye" is just frosting on the cake.

Image caption
Carol Reiter

Pauline Sholk, a retiree who voted at a public library in Aventura - a strip-mall laden area north of Miami - calls Mr Trump a "terrible person".

"There's no ethics," she says. "There's no honour. Anything that my parents taught me, he does not have."

At a DeSantis pro-Israel rally at a bagel shop near that Aventura library, film producer Hera Becker of Fort Lauderdale has a different view.

"I think Donald Trump is doing a fantastic job," she says. "We need co-operation from the federal government, and I don't see Mayor Gillum being able to do that."

Stephen Fiske, who runs a pro-Israel political action committee, also loves Trump's accomplishments - but has some reservations about the man.

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"Do I appreciate all the tweets, his demeanour, his mannerisms? No. However, the results are the results - and all the rest are noise."

On Wednesday night, the president held a rally for Mr DeSantis and other Florida Republicans in the Gulf Coast town of Fort Meyer. He'll return to the state, up north in Pensacola, on Saturday - one of only two states in which he's making multiple stops.

Most of the destinations in Mr Trump's last-minute national barnstorming tour are deeply conservative states where incumbent Democratic senators are on the ropes. Sharply divided Florida is different.

For the president, who refers to his private club in Palm Beach as the "Southern White House", Florida - and the governor's race in particular - is personal.

Corruption and race
One of the ways the president has injected himself into the governor's election is by repeatedly calling Mr Gillum a "thief" and contrasting him with "Harvard/Yale educated" DeSantis. (Mr Gillum went to Florida A&M University).

The president is referencing allegations that as mayor Mr Gillum improperly took benefits from individuals with business before the Tallahassee government, including accepting a ticket to the Broadway musical Hamilton from an undercover FBI agent investigating corruption in the city.

At Mr Trump's Fort Myer rally, the crowd responded to mention of the Democrat by chanting "lock him up!"

Mr Gillum denies the accusations and says he is not under FBI investigation - and the president provided no evidence to support his accusation of theft.

Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Instead, Mr Gillum and his supporters allege that Mr Trump's statements are thinly veiled racism.

It was perhaps inevitable that race would become a factor in the governor's contest given the ground-breaking nature of Mr Gillum's campaign, but it became an issue long before the president's tweets.

The day after the Florida primary, Mr DeSantis said during a Fox News interview that Florida voters should not "monkey up" the state's economy by electing a Democrat who supports tax increases and a "socialist agenda".

Mr DeSantis also declined to return a campaign donation from a conservative activist who once called President Obama a racist slur. He also spoke at a 2012 conference organised by a different right-wing activist who said that blacks owe their freedom to white people.

"How the hell am I supposed to know every single statement someone makes?" Mr DeSantis said when the subject was brought up during the second debate.

"I'm not calling Mr DeSantis a racist," Mr Gillum quickly countered. "I'm simply saying the racists believe he's a racist."

History in the making?
Black voters make up 16% of Florida's population - and their turnout could be pivotal to Mr Gillum's campaign. Black people support Democrats in overwhelming numbers and, in 2012, 74% participated in the presidential election. In 2016, that number dropped to 65% - a decline that contributed to Hillary Clinton's narrow defeat.

In mid-terms, the numbers are even lower. In 2014 42% voted, while in 2010 - a wave election for Republicans nationwide - 33% cast ballots.

In heavily black Miami-Dade County, early voting turnout is already up more than 160% from 2014, and Mr Gillum could be the reason. Recent opinion polls show Mr Gillum with a small but steady lead - playing in to the candidate's constant exhortations that his voters can prevail if they "bring it home".

Image caption
Jean Louis

Jean Louis walked out of the Aventura public library and into the balmy south FLorida evening after casting his ballot for Mr Gillum last week. He notes that 28 August was a historic day in American history - when Martin Luther King Jr gave his "I have a dream" speech in Washington, Mr Obama received the presidential nomination at the Democratic National Convention in 2008 and the night Mr Gillum secured the governor's nomination earlier this year.

He says he feels Andrew Gillum is the man for the hour in Florida.

"It will give me goosebumps to see the first black governor here," he says with a smile.

If Mr Gillum wins, however, it won't have been without a fight.

Video and uncredited photos by Hannah Long-Higgins

VIDEO
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-46046525/andrew-gillum-v-ron-desantis-a-beautiful-look-at-an-ugly-campaign

FOR INFORMATION ON YOUNG VOTERS, LOOK AT THIS.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/01/politics/youth-voters-midterms-energy/index.html


“Truth-seeking scientists run for office” – SEE THIS IN TODAY’S SPECIAL SUBJECT BLOG, CALLED “MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN.”


REALLY??? THIS IS THE SECOND TOPLESS INCIDENT AT A SANDERS APPEARANCE, THOUGH THIS TIME THERE IS NO REASON GIVEN. THE FIRST EVENT WAS IN SPRING OF 2016, AND THE WOMAN WAS PROTESTING TRUMP (SEE BELOW). I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IF ANY CONSERVATIVE HARASSMENT OF SANDERS WAS INVOLVED HERE. PROBABLY NOT, THOUGH. ONE ARTICLE SAID THAT HE JOKED ABOUT THE WHOLE THING AS SHE WAS LED OUT BY POLICE. SANDERS IS USUALLY A GOOD SPORT, AND NOT EASILY FLUMMOXED. GO TO THE INTERNET AND SEARCH FOR THE VISIT AT HIS OFFICE WITH SACHA BARON COHEN. COHEN IS, AS USUAL, VERY FUNNY. SO IS SANDERS. YOU CAN FIND THIS, I BELIEVE, ON THE SANDERS WEBSITE.

THIS ARTICLE SHOWS A LOW VOTER TURNOUT IN FLORIDA, AND SANDERS THREATENED THAT IF THEY DON’T WANT ANOTHER GROUP OF CONSERVATIVES IN OFFICE, THEY MUST VOTE. I’M REALLY SORRY TO SEE THIS. YOUNG PEOPLE ARE EASILY INTERESTED IN POLITICAL ISSUES, BUT THEN MAY NOT FOLLOW THROUGH AT THE POLLS. I HOPE THEY WILL FOLLOW HIS WORDS AND VOTE NOW. SEVERAL YOUNG PEOPLE WERE INTERVIEWED BY THE REPORTER AND SAID THAT THEY WERE “ON THEIR WAY” TO VOTE.

https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/politics/florida/bernie-sanders-stumps-for-andrew-gillum-rallies-for-young-voter-turnout-at-usf/67-610093680
Bernie Sanders stumps for Andrew Gillum, rallies for young voter turnout at USF

Sanders' visits to the University of South Florida in Tampa and the University of Central Florida in Orlando earlier in the day were all in an effort to solidify support among a key block of voters who are notorious for sitting out of mid-term elections.

Author: Josh Sidorowicz
Published: 9:43 PM EDT October 31, 2018
Updated: 1:21 AM EDT November 1, 2018

TAMPA, Fla. – In a bid to get young people to the polls, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders told a crowd made up mostly students that if they don’t vote, Republicans will win.

"If voter turnout is low, you're going to end up with right-wing reactionary leadership in Florida," Sanders told a crowd of several hundred people at the University of South Florida on Wednesday.

Sanders' visits to USF and the University of Central Florida in Orlando earlier in the day were all in an effort to solidify support among a key block of voters who are notorious for sitting out of mid-term elections.

►RELATED: Topless protester arrested at USF rally featuring Bernie Sanders

Currently, Republicans retain a slight edge in what is shaping up to be a record turnout for early and mail-in voting in Florida.

Nearly 3.5 million Floridians—25 percent of the state’s registered voters—have already cast a ballot with six days left until the mid-term election.


daniel a. smith
@electionsmith
>3m votes cast in Florida (EIP + VBM). Vote broken down by age composition and party share within age, through Monday:
18-29: 6% (D49% R28%)
30-44: 11% (D47% R30%)
45-64: 35% (D40% R42)
65+: 48% (D38% R47%)

9:49 PM - Oct 30, 2018
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But early voting among young people ages 18-29 is lagging, accounting for roughly 200,000—or 6 percent—of turnout.

Sanders said he was told before taking the stage that just 81 votes out of a potential 2,900 have been cast in the precinct that includes the USF campus.

“That’s pathetic,” he told the crowd, before announcing that Democratic attorney general candidate Sean Shaw would lead students to an early voting site on campus after the speech.

"Your views don't mean anything unless you participate in the political process and you come out to vote,” Sanders said.

Several students who spoke to 10News said they had not voted yet but intended to do so, with most saying they were headed to one of the on-campus early voting sites.

►VIDEO: 40 percent of young voters say they will vote in the midterms

"It's not too late,” said USF student Aly Palumbo. “I think this rally will really help get people going to the polls.”

College campuses can now host polling locations following a federal court ruling in July. The ruling said the state’s previous ban on polling sites on college campuses was discriminatory.

"It's our job to convince other young people to go out and vote to make their voices heard,” said USF student Mykenzie Robertson.

Gillum himself did not appear during Wednesday’s rally but Sanders was joined by Shaw and Gillum’s running mate Chris King.

►Make it easy to keep up-to-date with more stories like this. Download the 10 News app now.

Have a news tip? Email tips@wtsp.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter feed.

© 2018 WTSP


YES, REALLY. THIS INTERVIEW ABOUT THE FIRST NUDITY INCIDENT HAS MORE INFO ON SANDERS AND THE TOPLESS YOUNG LADY, TAKEN IN AN INTERVIEW. SHE HAD AN ANTI-TRUMP MESSAGE ON HER BODY. SANDERS JOKED THAT HE WAS “JUST TRYING TO GET EVERY DETAIL.” THE PHOTO OF THE YOUNG WOMAN IS IN THIS ARTICLE, AND SHE REALLY IS BEAUTIFUL. AH, THE YOUNG! THE MESSAGES ARE VERY TASTEFULLY ARRANGED, WITH LARGE SLOGAN-COVERED PASTIES PROPERLY PLACED. FROM WHAT I CAN SEE, HOWEVER, THERE WERE EITHER TWO DIFFERENT EVENTS OR THE ONE UNDER DISCUSSION HAPPENED IN 2016. I THINK THAT’S THE SITUATION.

THE MORE SERIOUS PART OF SANDERS SPEECH GETS UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL WITH TRUMP. RATHER THAN SIMPLY CALLING HIM A “PATHOLOGICAL LIAR” AS HE USUALLY DOES, HE TELLS THE YOUNG PEOPLE THAT IF THEY DON’T GO TO THE POLLS AND VOTE THAT “THIS COUNTRY IS IN FOR SOME VERY, VERY DANGEROUS YEARS TO COME." RATHER THAN TREATING HIM LIKE A MALICIOUS CLOWN, HE IS STRESSING THE “NATIONALIST” AND GENERALLY FAR RIGHT TREND IN HIS PRESIDENCY, AS SO MANY OF US HAVE DONE BEFORE. HE DIDN’T SAY WHITE SUPREMACIST OR NAZI, BUT THAT IMPLICATION IS CLEAR.

https://www.bustle.com/articles/149536-what-a-topless-protester-reveals-about-bernie-sanders-millennial-women
What A Topless Protester Reveals About Bernie Sanders & Millennial Women
ByKAREN YUAN
Mar 22 2016

PHOTOGRAPH -- George Frey/Getty Images News/Getty Images

Sen. Sanders, my eyes are up here. On Saturday, a topless woman interrupted Bernie Sanders' rally to protest Donald Trump with the writing on her body: "Hate speech is not free speech." When a host on Arizona radio station KTAR asked Sanders about it Monday, the two men shared a brief laugh over staring at her chest, before moving onto Sanders' real turn-ons: issues of the middle class and distributed wealth. Was this an instance of casual sexism or just two dudes talking as respectfully as they could about a half-naked demonstrator?

As BuzzFeed first reported, when KTAR's radio host asked Sanders if he could read the writing on the woman's chest, he replied, "I was trying very hard to get every detail. No, I'm just kidding." At this, the host burst out laughing and said that he was trying to do the same. Sanders said, "You were really studying the issue as an investigative reporter, was that what you were doing? Good. That's what a reporter should do."

"Right, that's exactly it," the host replied in a droll voice. Cue the groans from every woman (and probably some men) who are — or were — feeling the Bern. Yes, they were laughing about being distracted by her breasts. Take away the euphemisms and that's simply a fact. But were they being sexist?

Female icons like Michelle Obama have spoken out against casual sexism, calling attention to it being just as bad as overt sexism. It disguises itself as an inane comment, a harmless joke, a glance. It's nothing outrageous, and thus appears acceptable — sometimes to both the giver and receiver.

I hardly think Sanders is a raging misogynist. In fact, immediately after those few words about the topless woman (a feminist activist named Anni Ma), Sanders disengaged from the topic with a swift pivot: "No, actually, I was trying to focus on a couple of other things. And what we were focusing on is the disappearance of the American middle class, the fact that almost all new income and wealth is going to the top one percent." Bustle reached out to Ma, but she was unable to respond by the time of publication.


Bernie Sanders
✔
@BernieSanders

US Senate candidate, VT
The recklessness, greed and illegal behavior of Wall Street drove this country into the worst economic downturn in modern history.

8:48 AM - Mar 21, 2016
3,547
1,368 people are talking about this
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Sanders has met ambiguous, highly contested claims of sexism in the past, such as when he interrupted Hillary Clinton in a Democratic debate. Also, Bill Clinton critiqued Sanders' "sexist" supporters. However, accusations of sexism are quid pro quo when one's rival is the opposite gender. Empty claims of sexism only damage both candidates' credibility and distract from real transgressions.

But speaking as a millennial female, Sanders needs to beware of alienating millennial female voters, whether accidentally or not. A recent USA TODAY / Rock the Vote poll shows that nearly two-thirds of millennial females support Sanders over frontrunner Clinton. That's huge. So, Sen. Sanders: Cut it out with any signs of sexism — even bite-sized, throwaway jokes — if you want to continue appealing to these young women who support you and if you want to avoid claims of sexism from your opponents.

Acknowledge your young female supporters, like Ma, and don't laugh away their actions, even if you find other issues like wealth disparity more pressing. It's okay to address Ma's body — in fact, that's the whole point of her writing on it. Just make sure that's not the only thing about her you address. I promise that no one will fault you for talking about something other than Wall Street just for a bit.


YOUNG FOLKS CRASH SENIORS PARTY. ALL SEEM HAPPY TOGETHER.

https://flipboard.com/@Bustle_BDGMedia/inside-bernie-sanders'-midterms-pitch-to-young-women/f-d83d2f89ac%2Fbustle.com
RELATED: Inside Bernie Sanders' Midterms Pitch To Young Women
ByERIN DELMORE
OCTOBER, 2018 -- “7 days ago” – BY THE WAY, THIS HAPPENS TO BE OCTOBER 24. THE REFUSAL BY PUBLISHERS TO PUT IN THE ACTUAL DATE OF THE MONTH DRIVES ME BONKERS. “7 DAYS AGO” DOES ME NO GOOD AT ALL, EXCEPT THAT I DO, LUCKILY KEEP A CALENDAR. EVEN WORSE IS WHEN THEY GIVE NO HINT OF A DAY, AND JUST SAY “19 HOURS AGO,” ETC. FOR SHAME! WHEN I SEE THAT, I JUST MAKE A GOOD GUESS AT THE DATE, AND WRITE THAT IN. IF IT’S REALLY IMPORTANT TO THE WRITERS, THEY SHOULD DO A BETTER JOB OF IT THEMSELVES.

Scattered throughout an auditorium at Iowa Central Community College in Fort Dodge are people in their '20s and '30s listening intently to a conversation about the high cost of hearing aids. They say they've come to see a man they feel represents their priorities — so much so that they came to a town hall on senior issues just to hear him speak. And with two weeks to go until the midterm election, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) isn't mincing words.

"No group of Americans has more at stake in this election than millennial women," Sanders tells Bustle. "If people sit this out and don’t vote, and they allow Republicans to continue to control the House and Senate and the White House, this country is in for some very, very dangerous years to come."

Sanders' swing through Iowa is part of a nine-state tour to boost progressive candidates before Election Day. The pace of that swing feels fit for a marathon runner: four public events in three cities over two days. Two years after his raucous campaign for the White House, enthusiasm for the 77-year-old senator still runs high in the state that votes first in every presidential nominating contest.

"Everything that Bernie says about education and women’s health, you know, it sounds like dreams," Karen Vogel tells Bustle. The 24-year-old, who works at her family's print shop, came to Sanders' Fort Dodge town hall with her 15-month-old son, Bernie. She named him after the senator from Vermont. "It’s really what we wish could be America, all those wonderful images of America that Bernie paints for us," she says.


Erin Delmore

Sanders' goal on this midterms tour is to show local candidates how to turn out voters like Vogel. And if headlining these last-minute rallies stokes rumors of another presidential run in 2020, so be it. Sanders is one of many star politicians considered to be Democratic presidential contenders that have made their way to Iowa in recent weeks, including Sens. Kamala Harris (D-CA) and Cory Booker (D-NJ). But Sanders has logged the most face time with Iowans; in the 2016 presidential caucus there he coming close to beating Hillary Clinton — he lost by less than half a percentage point.

Sanders is trying to mobilize that grassroots support for other progressive candidates in the state, and in doing so he provides them with a blueprint for how to capture younger voters' attention. He peppers his speeches with specific call-outs to young women, including what he describes as Republicans' "very fierce and unified effort" to roll back abortion rights, oppose equal pay, and allow student debt to skyrocket.

"For those women who have kids, what’s at stake is whether or not we are going to have universal pre-K and affordable child care in this country or not, whether we stand up to the kinds of sexual assault which has impacted perhaps one out of four, one out of five women in this country," Sanders tells Bustle.


Erin Delmore

Sanders hammers President Trump during another rally in Sioux City for mocking Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, who accused Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her in high school (Kavanaugh has strongly denied this). It's a major applause line that appears to resonate with the women in the audience, whose votes are critical for Democrats to turn out on Election Day.

And Sanders came prepared with a laundry list of even more reasons women should get to the polls on Nov. 6. Before blasting cuts to social security, he notes that women tend to outlive men. He rails against the cost of admitting a parent to a nursing home, and says cuts to Medicaid will make it worse; the responsibility of caring for aging parents traditionally has fallen on women. He couples his signature proposal for a $15-an-hour minimum wage with a call to "end the unfairness of women in America making 80 cents on the dollar compared to men." And he calls the Republican tax overhaul that passed Congress last year "outrageous and immoral" for its cuts to nutrition programs for low-income pregnant women.


Erin Delmore

While speaking with Bustle, Sanders is emphatic that only electing a Democratic majority in Congress can stop Trump's agenda, which includes some of those policies hitting women's wallets.

"He is appealing to, generally speaking, older white men who have a view of women which I suppose was fashionable 50 years ago, but obviously is no longer the case," Sanders says of Trump.

He describes his primary goal on the campaign trail this month as ending one-party rule in Washington, and to that end suggests Democrats do whatever they need to do to secure as many seats in Congress as possible. Sanders took some heat last year for endorsing a candidate in Nebraska who angered abortion rights activists with some votes he cast earlier in his career as a state lawmaker; at the time, Sanders said Democrats needed to endorse those kinds of candidates in red states to "become a 50-state party."


Erin Delmore

It's a move he stands by, even as concern for the future of abortion rights mounts following Kavanaugh's confirmation to the Supreme Court.

"If you’re asking me, will I turn my back on somebody in a conservative district who may have a different view than I do on abortion rights, no," Sanders tells Bustle. "I’m not going to turn my back."

"The question is whether the Democratic Party will be in the minority, and we’re going to have to see women’s rights to choose being taken away and all kinds of other needs for women and for the general population destroyed," he adds.


Erin Delmore

Sanders acknowledges on the trail in Sioux City that abortion is a controversial topic in Iowa, and says that he has respect for other points of view on the issue. He also goes after Republican candidates who campaign on limiting government interference in people's lives while at the same time trying to limit access to abortion.

"Let her make that decision, not the federal or state government," Sanders says to applause from the rally crowd.

Beyond abortion rights, young women who came out to Sanders' Iowa events say they hear their most pressing concerns reflected in the senator's policies. That includes everything from anxiety over their student debt, to paying for their families' prescription drugs, to the impact of climate change. It's environmental issues that partially drew twenty-year-old Julie Uwineza, a Congolese student at Iowa State, to Sanders.

"I feel like he talks mostly to young people," Uwineza says. "Honestly, I feel like all the young generation should be able to listen to him and hear his point of view because he’s perfectly connected with us."