What America's Voting System(s) Look Like From Abroad.

 The New York Times showed some details of the archaic United States voting system(s) to residents of some of the worlds newer and less baroque (or broken?) voting systems.

Here's the resulting video:

"When we showed voters from around the world what American elections are like in practice, they weren’t impressed. But they were impressed with our resilience and determination. So, while the world’s 'oldest democracy' may be a bit creaky these days, let’s be clear: Go vote! That’s really the best way to make a change."

ONE DAY LEFT!

VOTE!

The October surprises are coming faster than usual this year...

It's entirely on message for this week that it would end with the announcement that the current couple living in the White House have both tested positive for COVID-19 (which will be known in future histories of 2020 as the #TrumpVirus).

Monday morning saw the detailed exposé of Trump's taxes in the print edition The New York Times (released online on Sunday), in which we learned that he paid $750/year in federal income taxes in the years when he wasn't paying absolutely nothing.

Tuesday night saw Trump's self-immolation at the first Presidential debate, a debate that will be remembered for his constant interruptions, his complete lack of empathy for Beau Biden, his mask-free family flouting debate rules, his sweaty orange complexion, and especially for his telling the Proud Boys to "Stand Back and Stand By" when asked if he would denounce those violent white supremacists. 

Wednesday saw the online release of the results of a five-month investigation from the Times' Magazine about the depth and breadth of Trump's "Voter Fraud" lies and how they fit into a continuing GOP project of voter suppression, which now seems to be Trump's only remaining election strategy.

Thursday night saw the release of a recording of First Lady Melania Trump saying "Who gives a fuck about Christmas stuff and decoration" and "they said 'Oh, what about the children that they were separated?' Give me a fucking break." Melania's war on Christmas and refugee children got approximately ten seconds of media attention before the news broke that Trump's closest aide Hope Hicks had tested positive for #TrumpVirus after spending all week traveling in close contact with her boss to the debate and Trump superspreader rallies.

Friday morning we woke up to the news that the POTUS and FLOTUS were positive for the virus named after them, which leads to our True Blue Liberal poll question of the day.

POLL:
Which of these other blockbuster stories of the week is Trump most happy to distract us from with his #TrumpVirus announcement?

— True Blue Liberal - #BidenHarris2020 (@TrueBlueLiberal) October 2, 2020

Video proof that Donald Trump knows nothing about American election systems.

Anyone who believes that Donald Trump is actually an expert on voting by mail, or voting in person, or voting at all, should watch this video of a very short-tempered Trump voting in person (or attempting to vote in person) at various locations on the Upper East Side of New York in November 2004 ... with a camera crew and Billy Bush (of Access Hollywood tape infamy) at his side. While he does finally vote (or at least fill out a provisional ballot) by the end of the video, this still doesn't inspire a lot of confidence about his knowledge and familiarity with the mechanics of the process that he is now questioning every day as we approach the 2020 election (just as he had prior to the 2016 election when he believed he was going to lose).

The frame of this video is interesting too. Billy Bush and his co-host Kit Hoover are in the Access Hollywood studio on election day of 2012 looking back at Donald's antics of 2004 and giving an update about Donald's current (2012) racist attempt to get Barack Obama to release his college transcripts and passport documents.

"Your vote is one vote. His vote is a GIANT vote." --Billy Bush, Election Day 2004

______________________

NOTE:

An earlier version of this was posted here on the True Blue Liberal blog on October 21, 2016, because plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose in Trumpworld.

Quarterfinals of The Untruthful Trump Tournament

In match one of the round of 16 that finished tonight, Donald Trump's lie about making Mexico pay for his idiotic border wall was beaten 52% to 48% by his lie that Barack Obama wasn't born in the USA.
In match two, his lie about New Jersey citizens celebrating the attacks on the Twin Towers on 9/11 beat his lie that Ted Cruz's father conspired in JFK's assassination by 66% to 34%.
So the first of four quarterfinal matches is this:

The Untruthful Trump Tournament, Quarterfinals, Match One.

Vote for One Lie:

— True Blue Liberal (@TrueBlueLiberal) March 21, 2017

In match three, his lie about crime rising under Obama was beaten 79% to 21% by his lie that true unemployment under Obama was actually as high as "42%" rather than under 5%.
In match four, his lie about Obama personally wiretapping Trump Tower beat his lie about having the largest inauguration ever by 72% to 28%.
The second of four quarterfinal matches is therefore:

The Untruthful Trump Tournament, Quarterfinals, Match Two.

Vote for One Lie:

— True Blue Liberal (@TrueBlueLiberal) March 21, 2017

Match five of the previous round saw his lie that he received the most electoral votes of any Republican since Ronald Reagan easily beating his lie about the media ignoring European terrorism by 75% to 25%.
In match six, Trump's untruth about millions of illegal votes for Hillary Clinton beat his whopper about America's low murder rate being the highest in 45 years 83% to 17%.
The third of four quarterfinal contests is:

Untruthful Trump Tournament, Quarterfinals, Match 3

He got the most electoral votes since Reagan or millions of illegals voted for Clinton?

— True Blue Liberal (@TrueBlueLiberal) March 21, 2017

In match seven of the round of 16, Trump's repeated denials of multiple credible sexual assault and harassment claims garnered 55% of the votes while his recurring tweet about the "failing NY Times" losing subscribers got 45%.
Finally, match eight saw his lie about busloads of Massachusetts voters flocking to New Hampshire to vote against him beat his untrue assertion that US taxpayers face the highest tax rates in the world by 60% to 40%.
So the final quarterfinal matchup is:

The Untruthful Trump Tournament, Quarterfinals, Match Four.

Vote for One Lie:

— True Blue Liberal (@TrueBlueLiberal) March 21, 2017

Please vote in all four contests before Saturday the 25th, when the two semifinal matches will be set.

EVERY Vote Counts against an Anti-American and Anti-Democratic Donald Trump

Donald Trump crossed another line today in Ohio when he told a group of supporters:

"First of all, it [the primary season] was rigged, and I'm afraid the election is going to be rigged. I have to be honest. Because I think my side was rigged. If I didn't win by massive landslides — I mean, think of what we won in New York, Indiana, California 78 percent. That's with other people in the race, but think of it." 

  Last week in Iowa, Trump planted the same seed about the general election:

 "Now we have one left, one left, one left, and in theory, in theory it should be the easiest, but it's a rigged system. It's a totally rigged system. The elections are rigged."

This is another reason -- if not the main reason -- that every vote counts in 2016, even in safely red or blue states. There should be no thought of throwing your vote to a third party or writing in a name that no one will read, just to make yourself feel better or more politically pure this November. During the Democratic convention last week I heard one Bernie supporter from Utah being interviewed on the radio; she told the reporter that she was definitely going to vote for Jill Stein of the Green Party because her state was voting Republican no matter what she does; however, she said she might vote for Hillary if she lived in a swing state like Florida or Ohio, in other words, if her vote mattered.

However, in 2016 every vote counts in every state. Try to imagine a situation where, like Gore in 2000, Trump loses a close electoral vote and wins a close popular vote. Would Trump, like Gore in 2000, leave the stage with grace and silence? Would he go back to his gilded penthouse with congratulations for Madame President Clinton? Or, more likely, would his speeches and press conferences and tweets and Facebook posts about vote rigging and "Crooked Hillary" rise to an unprecendented din? And how would some of his core supporters among the well-armed and poorly-educated conspiracists, white supremacists, Fox brainwashees, and "Bikers For Trump," react to his endless whines about unfairness? Would we want to find out?

It's safer simply to make sure that Donald Trump is buried by a vote count, both electoral and popular, that leaves no room for doubt.

A Modest Proposal to Prevent Voter Fraud by the 1%

Proposal: 

Ban the use of private jets on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.

The Republicans have only one simple and cynical strategy for success in this November's Presidential election. It involves sabotaging the economy by Congressional intransigence, magnifying any slowdown they cause in the economy with their well-financed on-message GOP Pessimism Machine, and denying the voting franchise to as many potential Obama voters as possible.  They want to disenfranchise millions of mostly low-income voters in the name of preventing voter fraud, even though they have trouble citing a single concrete example of fraudulent voting.

Well, I have little concrete evidence that any multi-millionaires have hopped into private jets and voted at all their addresses in California, Utah, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire on the same first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, but that's no reason not to pass a law to keep ultra-rich voters grounded until election day is over.

*    *    *

(Seriously, there is another potential voter fraud scandal involving Mitt Romney not involving private jets, but which can only be resolved if he returns his Massachusetts tax returns.  Click the BradBlog link for more information)