89 Comments

Perhaps Donald Trump’s sentence should include being required to post 100 consecutive truthful things on Truth Social? That would be truly excruciating for him!

If he interjects a lie, he has to start over – making it tantamount to a life sentence.

Expand full comment

On a more serious note, lots of good stuff, granular information, in today’s Morning Digest from The-Downballot.com (formerly DailyKos Elections). Democrats’ financial edge in House races, the status of Nebraska’s Senate race, and much more.

https://www.the-downballot.com/p/morning-digest-as-we-launch-our-new

Expand full comment

Thank you!

Expand full comment

Good idea 😊

Expand full comment

I've thought something similar--make him buy the time on Fox to admit one lie or make one apology every hour for the rest of his life. A few years ago, my son told me he and his Gen Z friends would be willing to let him avoid prison time if he were just forced to spend the rest of his life as a full-time climate activist doing outreach to red America. I don't know if they would still take that deal anymore, though.

Expand full comment

That sounds like Sisyphus' punishment for him.

Expand full comment

Yes, but only because Sisyphus-Trump, in an act of utter stupidity when he’s near the top, chooses to kick the boulder back down the slope. Very predictable!

Expand full comment

LOL :D. Yes, Trump is a perfect example of the difference between predictable and reliable (which he clearly doesn't understand), and why the second is a lot better than the first. :D

Expand full comment

4 years per felony x 34 felonies = ?

Expand full comment

Remember, folks, that the start of early voting varies from state to state. Here in Iowa it begins October 16. I think a lot of other red states have similar restrictions.

Expand full comment

Not finding any information on the indictments for the Arlington Cemetery incident. Can someone help?

Expand full comment

It’s clear that Trump and his campaign entourage broke the law. However, I have yet to hear of any indictments in the wake of this outrageous incident.

Expand full comment

I called my Congressman and both Senators asking for an investigation and that he be charged. That is something we can do! I had the impression that one of the senator’s offices has been hearing from constituents about that incident.

Expand full comment

Good! If Democrats were in control of the House, there could be investigative hearings on this – instead of the BS performative stuff Comer, Jordan & co are doing.

That said, it’s incredible that a journalistic investigation by mainstream news media has not uncovered the facts of the incident, not even the names of the Trump campaign aides that accosted the Arlington employee who was just doing her job and trying to enforce the rules.

Expand full comment

I also wrote to my representatives objecting to Donald’s use of Arlington Cemetery for a photo op.

Expand full comment
author

He has not been indicted for this yet, but it is clear laws were broken.

Expand full comment

Thank you for the clarification.

Expand full comment

Attorney General Merrick Garland appears to be AWOL. I’m wondering if the legal team at the Department of Defense can file the indictment.

Expand full comment

Not unless trump had active duty personnel involved in his violation of the law. The DoJ and/or the US Attorney for Eastern Virginia would be the entities responsible for indictment in this matter.

Expand full comment
Sep 4·edited Sep 4

I just read an article on the NPR site by Tom Bowman that both Jamie Raskin and Tom Kaine have requested the official incident report.

Expand full comment

Yes I read that also. I made my comment before I had my first cup of coffee and misread that sentence…oops

Expand full comment

Simon, Hopium is great - thank you!!!

I also read Robert Hubbell's Today's Edition - he frequently criticizes media coverage of the campaigns.Below is an excerpt from today's newsletter - I wonder what you have to say about this:

"...editorial by the Washington Post Editorial Board that compared the policy positions of Harris and Trump. See WaPo, Harris and Trump are different. They need to explain how different.

If the editorial board of the Washington Post needs Kamala Harris and Donald Trump to explain how they are not alike, the editors should resign en masse. It was a silly exercise beneath the Washington Post and its editorial board, which began by noting,

In character, style, tone, outlook, dignity, and, yes, race and gender, the two candidates are distinct.

The distinctions between them on policy substance, however, are somewhat fuzzier.

Newspapers should report the news and editorial boards should comment on matters of public importance. But this election presents a moral choice that will be the hinge of democracy for decades to come. To engage in pretend editorializing driven by feigned ignorance is a shocking new low."

Expand full comment
Sep 4·edited Sep 4

Touche, thanks for sharing--I thought that Post editorial board editorial was shocking, and seemed to be a consequence of defensive hurt feelings over the rage with which their subscribers have responded to their coverage, and had the fingerprints of Bezos and his new Murdoch publisher all over it.

Yesterday, Matt Bai wrote a piece in the Post that made a number of good points about why the Harris CNN interview was so bad/useless from a media perspective. But as the MSM so often does, he had to slip in a shiv about those of us critical of its coverage, accusing us of "whining about a lie not called out," which I had to respond to and wanted to share in case any of it might be useful to other info warriors in the community:

"These are good points. The problem is that it's very apparent that outside MSNBC, all of the MSM holds Democrats to a much higher standard than Trump and the GOP. We're not "whining about *the* lie not called out," we're sick and tired of dozens of lies not being called out every time Trump speaks. CNN identified 30 Trump lies in the first debate; there were between 300-600. We're tired of the false equivalences and bothsiderism. The idea that you have to do this to be "fair and balanced" is as meaningless when *you* say it as when *Fox* does, especially when the motive is exactly the same: *money*. You don't want to lose GOP subscribers (or you want to gain them; it's a lot cheaper to publish a paper when all you have to write are headlines), you don't want to lose access to GOP politicians (because access is a much cheaper value-ad than investigative reporting), you thought Trump was better for clicks.

And we're tired of undisclosed conflicts of interest and hidden agendas, eg give us ONE good reason why the Post shouldn’t include the following text (or a reasonable facsimile) in *every* election article:

The Washington Post is owned by the founder of Amazon, which is being sued for antitrust violations by the Biden-Harris administration's Federal Trade Commission and seventeen state attorney generals, sixteen of them Democrats.

How about disclosing how much your top decision-makers benefited from the Trump tax cut, and how much they stand to gain from the additional tax cuts he's promising? Tax cuts that the rest of us will pay for in higher inflation, and our children and grandchildren will pay for in even more tax dollars going to interest on the national debt for no benefit to anyone except the 1%. Please don't tell us about the firewall between corporate and editorial; at least some of us know from irrefutable personal experience that's a lie.

One more thing: we're not the only ones "whining." There was plenty by the MSM at the DNC when you'all realized digital influencers had the seats and access you'all assumed *you* were entitled to. Get used to it, fellas; they have more reach than you, they're more trusted by voters, and they have no problem calling out the likes of Trump on *everything.*

Expand full comment

I'm a former editorial page editor. That WAPO editorial was a disgrace. The shallowness was remarkable even by already disgraced MSM standards. Screw 'em. Even after nine bloody years of lies, chaos, madness, insurrection, and 34 felony convictions, they still won't tell the truth about Trump that is so evident it's blinding.

Their moral cowardice is equally evident.

We don't need them. When we fight we win...despite them.

Expand full comment

Simon, Please tell me that Anderson Clayton is working to counteract what’s described in the bullet below…

Expand full comment

Simon, yesterday I finally had a chance to watch the inaugural episode of "Closing Strong". That was really great! You and Tara McGowan truly brought out the best in each other, and the two guests, North Carolina Dem Party head Anderson Clayton and Wired journalist Makena Kelly, added fascinating perspectives. Looking forward to your next episode

Highly recommended to those who haven’t seen it yet!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmHzLhtkHoA

Expand full comment
founding

My "old" eyes occasionally misread things. This morning it was "Harris cuts off Trump's oxygen," which I misread as "Trump cuts off Trump's organ." Now that was an exciting mistake!

Expand full comment

Given that Melania is clearly keeping a distance of at least one state, and that Trump doesn’t have $ 130,000 to spare, he is in all likelihood currently an Incel. Meaning certain organs are entirely superfluous. Moreover, given that he has never dared voice a critical voice against Putin, I would not be surprised if Vlad is keeping Donald’s tiny white balls in a jar somewhere.

Expand full comment

🤣🤣🤣

Expand full comment

Simon,

As a former, long-time political and business journalist and editor (and twice a candidate for county office), I cannot overstate how much your site is a breath of fresh air of analysis and action. I finally subscribed today and look forward to this evening's call. I live in the seacoast region of NH and MVP Harris will be in my neighborhood today touting her economic policy with a focus on a $50,000 tax credit for start ups (an increase from $5,000). It's a brilliant stroke, an example of her being surrounded by competent and visionary staff. What a bloody contrast to Trump's tax cut giveaway to billionaires and corporations that don't need it.

We are not going back.

Expand full comment

You’re right. We’re not going back. Billionaire tax cuts have hurt all of us for too long. “There is enough for everyone’s need, but not for everyone’s greed.”

Expand full comment

Indeed!

Expand full comment

Welcome Michael to the land of HOPE and plenty of good work!

Expand full comment

Thanks for the welcome. As I learned from tonight's call with Simon & Tom Bonier, it's quite the community!

Expand full comment

I’m kinda obsessed with researching bits and pieces so if you are interested in learning more about projects some in this community are involved in suggest you check out comments section for August 23/2023. With your background you are most likely more familiar with resources than I was. I was hooked learning about a slow flowing blue tsunami initiated with post djt election/ women’s March.

Re: August 23- Simon had invited us to share with the rest of our community members. It was enormously helpful in providing unbelievable resources and ideas to plan our political work going forward. From simple to sophisticated all was inspiring and helpful. I also researched our mentors background (found out he is a political savant with grit of NYorker) through his NDN work. Impressive. Just how I wanted to learn more about politics at this particular time in history: Educationally, mentally and emotionally. Fun. 🇺🇸🇺🇸

Expand full comment

Thanks for the suggestion, Irene. I will check it out.

Expand full comment
Sep 5·edited Sep 5

Welcome, Michael! I so wanted to attend Kamala's rally at the Seacoast (my favorite part of NH), but I'm in the Monadnock Region and couldn't make the drive; was a gorgeous day for it, though. How lucky that she was in (y)our backyard! I watched from home and was stunned and overjoyed at her economic message. It's true: Why should the rich and giant corporations be awarded huge tax benefits that they don't need (or allow to "trickle down") vs the middle class and small businesses that do? Plus, increasing the cap gains tax on those making a million+/year and keeping it the same for the rest of us makes total sense. These proposals should interest a lot of mainstream GOPers, if they're not maga. Even the WSJ and Goldman-Sachs touted her plans over TFG's. I continue to be wowed by our VP's reasonable, intelligent, thoughtful policies and ideas, and she continues to run a flawless campaign. I feel like I'm living in wonderland, and I really love it here!

Expand full comment

My wife Anne & I have eaten at Throwback Brewery a couple of times. A cool place and a great venue for hosting a presidential campaign stop. On Twitter, the NH GOP and Trump campaign was spreading lies about the buses used to transport folks from the parking lot in Portsmouth to the brewery down the road in North Hampton, saying the folks at the rally were from Massachusetts. They are obsessed with buses from Massachusetts and come election day we see the same pathetic lies about busing people in to vote in NH.

I think Wall Street is finally after four decades coming to realize that Democrats are actually the best stewards for the economy and MVP Harris is hitting all the right chords.

Expand full comment

Agreed! I could not be happier with our phenomenal ticket...and our outstanding president who allowed that ticket to ride. I didn't think anyone could top President Obama (and our glorious First Lady and family), but President Biden had an almost singular focus...to rebuild our middle class and the country's infrastructure. I'm only beginning to understand all the reasons he pushed through those huge bills, how he, unlike so many before him, understood that big changes needed to be made to restore our country to its best, that toxic RW policies had to be undone. And it sounds like Kamala is building on that and taking the next steps...so I'm psyched to keep working through the next two months and hope to celebrate the fruits of our labor this fall!!!

Expand full comment

🙌🏻🙌🏾 Good the hear, Michael.

Expand full comment
Sep 4·edited Sep 4

The "oxygen" piece is really fascinating. It proposes that Clinton made the mistake of engaging with the media on their questions which were basically Republican talking points. She engaged in good faith with a media that was largely acting in bad faith, which ultimately backfired and "legitimized" the GOP smear campaign. It's not a criticism of her but rather she was one of the first to have to deal with new dynamic where the old rules didn't apply and nobody had figured it out yet. Biden didn't get dragged into the muck but unfortunately he couldn't shake the age issue (yes the age concerns were legitimate but the media applied a double standard to Trump in another act of bad faith). Harris seems to have found the secret sauce after the painful lessons of the last decade. She is (1) not engaging in Trump's narrative, (2) not legitimizing right wing talking points (no matter who asks them even "respectable" journalists) and (3) talking directly to the voters she needs to win. I am unbelievably proud of this campaign.

Expand full comment
Sep 4·edited Sep 5

The latest "issue" is that she allegedly, sometimes, uses a "Southern" accent. We know what that means. Ridiculous. Trump has a different voice - sometimes he sounds like drugged, rambling, racist idiot and other times he just sounds like a rambling, racist idiot.

Expand full comment

Me too. No matter how much good stuff Biden and his Administration accomplished, all the media focused on was his age. Now that they have Old Donald they want Harris’ policies. What a sham. All they want is grist for their gotcha mill. I’m so glad Harris is going directly to the people and not the press.

Expand full comment

Whenever I need something to give me a smile, I re-watch that part of the Dana Bash interview where she wants a comment from VP Harris on Trump's ridiculous comments about her suddenly turning BLACK. She responded so perfectly, (not a direct quote). that it was Trump's same old tired rhetoric and asked for the NEXT Question. Ms. Bash, asked, "That's it?" A nod from VP Harris, and with a slight smile responded, "That's it."

That's the k-a AG we had here in California. She's beautiful.

Expand full comment

Wow Jason,

Definitely fascinating.

Add to that my horror of the endless “ Benghazi’ investigation ( was it 8??) Hilary suffered through, seeking to smear her over and over again. Kevin McCarthy gave the game away ( decrease her #s in the polls)

I couldn’t fathom why the Democratic support was so thin, almost absent during all those shenanigans(?!?)

Fast forward to our recent fierce warriors fighting off the GOP on CSPAN. Ruskin, Goldman, Liu, Swalwell and more recently Crockett and Muscowitz. So proud they supported their Dems and Biden so well.

They helped JJordan and Comer make fools of themselves.

Expand full comment

I’m at the

Post Office dropping off 40 postcards to get out the vote in Ohio. I’m going home to write 20 more. I don’t believe I have ever wanted anything more than I want to see the end of Donald, MAGA, Project 2025 and all of its supporters.

Expand full comment

You rock, thank you! And I agree :)

Expand full comment

Amen to that!!

Expand full comment

I live in Texas and we have a group of 125 writing 25,000 postcards thru Progressive Turnout Project. They are calling Texas a swing state… could you possibly put an eye on Texas and offer an opinion on how Colin Allred is faring vs Cruz and how this might turn out well? Thank you! I am now your disciple and read your email every day. Would appreciate your thoughts,

Betsy P Fort Worth

Expand full comment

This is awesome, thank you SO much for the work you're doing!

Expand full comment

God Bless Texas by ridding yourselves of Paxton and Co. Happy to write postcards to help you do that😊🙌

Expand full comment

Simon, how long is tonight's event w Tom scheduled to be? And will he take questions from subscribers? Thanks so much

Expand full comment
Sep 4·edited Sep 4

The current Trump path to 270 seems to have folded down to PA, GA, and NC. Spending wise, hes only matching Harris in PA & GA... I guess hes just crossing his fingers about NC..

PA seems almost immovably tied at the moment. Hopefully Harris's superior ground game brings it home. All the swing state polling seems to just be RNG.. just pick a random number b/t Trump +2 and Harris +4 for them all lol.

Expand full comment

If you are worried about PA (or other states with must win senate seats), Activate America (www.activateamerica.vote) has a series of new postcard campaigns. From their website:

Activate Americais working with the Turnout Education Fund and Movement Labs to conduct a 501(c)(3) compliant Vote By Mail (VBM) enrollment program in Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The program focuses on voters who are Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPoC) and are not enrolled in VBM, urging them to request a ballot and reminding them to return their ballot prior to Election Day.

As this is a 501(c)(3) compliant program it is very important that postcard volunteers do not include any partisan or candidate messaging anywhere on the postcard.

They are doing the same campaign via text and some voters will be reached by one or the other method and some will recewive both.

Expand full comment

Yes yes Cheryl. Knocking out 50 of those for PA VBMs at the moment 😀

GO Team Hopium GO GO GO, we got this 🥥🌴💪

Expand full comment

Hi Team Hopium! Grateful for all of you! A couple thoughts: my hard-working group is now pivoting from postcarding to phonebanking. Highly recommend we all push past our comfort zones and do this, direct engagement is vital! And I promise, when you do it in a group, it's fun, you get support! Here's a link to the many, many group phonebanking sessions happening for Team Harris/Walz (from the Mobilize site): https://events.democrats.org/event/664004/?utm_source=hfp_w_go_20240823&utm_campaign=hfp_w_go_mb_do_vol_vrec_20240823&utm_medium=go_kh_20240823&fbclid=IwY2xjawE1sJVleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHXZx7VK2hgNMDfFBkQN_90m3X-ccbyy6MN27CPwkHkoGpEBvNVxKg5JN0w_aem_z3lh808zCvWjB8H_ZNvV6A

Also, per Simon's mantra, let's all start pushing out via all our social media networks and to all our personal networks the concept of 'Voting on Day 1.' I'm personally in 8 pro-Harris groups with hundreds of thousands of members collectively. I'm going to start posting this regularly, and I'm also on X (which is a drag sometimes), but I'll put putting it over and over again on all the pro-Harris account threads.

The more we amplify this, the more it will happen, LFG!!! As Simon says, proud to be in this fight with all of you.

Expand full comment