Colorado passed a law that dictates that our electoral vote total shall be given to the candidate who wins the national majority of votes regardless of how the citizens of Colorado voted. Below is the WSJ final (?) tally regardless that Arizona and Nevada are still counting. This will make little difference as the number of outstanding ballots will not affect anything.
Back in 1991, Louisiana was a one-party state, the Republicans having gone moribund, and it was an election year. The leading Democratic wannabe for Governor was Edwin Edwards, who had just been released from the state prison after serving 5 years for official corruption. Challenging him for the nomination was KKK leader David Duke. Duke changed his party affiliation after losing to Edwards in the party primary, and petitioned himself onto the general ballot. Edwards and Duke finished 1-2 and moved on to the runoff.
Humorous unofficial bumper stickers were created in support of Edwards over Duke, despite Edwards' negative reputation. One bumper sticker read "Vote for the Lizard, not the Wizard", while another read "Vote For The Crook: It's Important."
FWIW, the Wizard was never really a republican and the “crook” won.
The FBI has announced that a disgruntled Iranian assassin is running about loose in the country with the avowed intent to whack Mike Pompeo in retaliation for the killing of General Soleimani in Iraq. Just before an election? The conspiracy theories write themselves, so here's my take:
The Iranian assassin gambit:
Iranian assassin whacks Pompeo or some similarly positioned figure. Biden expresses outrage and allows U.S. To bomb Iranian assets in Syria and possibly in Yeman. American public miffed.
Iranian assassin whacks Trump. Desantis or Ramaswami immediately moves up to the nomination promising strikes on Iran. Gets elected.
Iranian assassin whacks Harris. Hillary immediately volunteers to replace her. Biden expresses outrage and allows U.S. to bomb Iranian assets in Syria and possibly in Yemen. American public miffed but figures Biden won't last 2 weeks post inauguration. Election very close, Biden wins by 2% in spite of fires in swing state counting centers which are blamed on Trump supporters. Early Feb. Biden succumbs to heart failure.
Iranian assassin whacks Biden. Harris moves up and issues strongly worded letter of protest to Iran. Trump wins election 60/40 in spite of fires in swing state counting centers, which are blamed on Iranian saboteurs.
Modifications to the above:
A. Assassin is killed in the operation. Elizabeth Warren commission investigates and concludes he acted alone with no outside support.
B. Assassin is captured, and whisked off to an undisclosed location. FBI says he's being interrogated, but won't say what they've learned. NYT protests “inhuman treatment and torture of captured freedom fighter”. Email leaks suggest he received substantial assistance from the FBI. FBI announces that he has died of natural causes while in their custody in spite of their best efforts. They denounce the email leaks as “Russian disinformation”. Elizabeth Warren commission concurs.
The DOJs investigation into Bidens mishandling of classified documents has ended with no charges.
DOJ:
This sort of thing could easily lead to legislators having to cancel their email accounts. Following the example of the councilman in Brazil who had ChatGPT write a city ordnance, which bypassed all the usual governmental roadblocks and passed unanimously on first reading,
Not specifically gun related, but closely connected. I asked ChatGPT to write me a bill to establish an audit process, and here's what it came up with. Just needs someone to carry it. Yes, I know, it won't get anywhere in Colorado, but we can at least make an effort. Cut and paste to your rep or senator. It's specific to Colorado, but it should be easy to get one for other states by just changing the state in the request section. Don't send the request section, shown in the next paragraph. I'm not going to worry about some AI becoming an evil overlord, the things are programs, and do what you ask them to do. Usually. Proofread their work and treat them like unpaid interns.
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Compose a bill for a law, in the format of bills in the Colorado state legislature, to amend the Colorado revised statutes to require an audit of statewide biannual elections. This audit should confirm that every ballot cast represents a specific voter, that all voters tested are current legal residents at their stated address, and that all voters tested are legally entitled to vote in the Colorado elections. Sampling size should be sufficient to be statistically significant, and this audit should be completed and a summary report issued not later than 15 January following the election being audited. The audit must be performed by a private party or business competent to perform such actions.
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BILL NUMBER: H.B. XX-XXXX
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE [Your Name]
A BILL FOR AN ACT
CONCERNING AUDITS OF STATEWIDE BIANNUAL ELECTIONS IN THE STATE OF COLORADO.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Colorado:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Biannual Election Integrity Act."
SECTION 2. LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS.
The General Assembly finds and declares that ensuring the integrity of statewide biannual elections is fundamental to a healthy democracy. To enhance public confidence in the electoral process, it is imperative to implement measures that verify the accuracy and legitimacy of every vote cast in these elections.
SECTION 3. AMENDMENT OF THE COLORADO REVISED STATUTES.
(a) Section XX-XXXX, Colorado Revised Statutes, is hereby amended to add a new subsection (XX) to read as follows:
(XX) AUDIT OF STATEWIDE BIANNUAL ELECTIONS.
(i) Following each statewide biannual election, a comprehensive audit shall be conducted to verify the accuracy and legitimacy of the votes cast.
(ii) The audit shall be designed to confirm the following:
(a) Every ballot cast represents a specific voter.
(b) All voters tested are current legal residents at their stated address.
(c) All voters tested are legally entitled to vote in Colorado elections.
(iii) The sampling size for the audit shall be sufficient to achieve statistical significance and shall be determined in accordance with recognized statistical principles.
(iv) The audit shall be completed, and a summary report issued not later than January 15 following the election being audited.
(v) The audit required by this subsection shall be performed by a private party or business competent to conduct such an audit.
SECTION 4. IMPLEMENTATION.
(a) The Secretary of State shall promulgate rules and regulations necessary to implement the provisions of this act.
SECTION 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This act shall take effect upon passage.
This from Lloyd Billingsly at Power Line Blog:
The style of the Biden Junta is full-on Stalinist, with show-trials, pre-dawn raids, imprisonment without trial, media censorship and so forth. Clinton’s “formal deprogramming” will make a good fit. Watch for details in the days ahead.
They also try to tell you that Trump is a wannabe dictator.
Found at Newsmax. First the headline:
"I've said publicly that my preference — and I think it would be the preference for most Americans — is willing to have someone fairly normal in office," Musk said.
Wouldn't we all. Note that he is not asking for complete normality, just mostly normality. In Washington, this may be a high bar, but certainly less so for the rest of us. Note as well that this plea is coming from a man who does not think it unreasonable to be planning to move to Mars.
Not a rant about their latest power grab, but a question about the future makeup and direction of the party itself. Pundits across the board are predicting a disaster for the DNC this year only rivaled by the Chicxulub meteor impact that marked the end of the Cretaceous and the extinction of the dinosaurs.
So lets imagine the Dems bomb biblically in November. Then what? The DNC is a big organization, like a huge vehicle with a committee in the drivers seat. Post election, some of the drivers committee are going to either jump out the doors, or be tossed. But which ones? The moderates will find it easy enough to reinvent themselves as independents, and who knows, perhaps alter their voting practices. The hard core will be happy to see them go, and will move to make sure they don't come back. Ownership of the party is profitable, and the fewer "unproductive units" there are, the more swag the remainder gets.
This could work the other way of course, with the extremists getting the boot and the moderates taking over, making sure that the now exiled Bolsheviks find it very difficult to get back on the bus, and certainly not into the drivers seat.
The DNC is a large, heavy vehicle, and no loss will be great enough to completely destroy it. At least I don't think so. Remember the Whigs?
But probably not quite the way you were hoping. HHS will be asking hospitals to cut back on the number of deaths they report as being Covid deaths in advance of the mid terms. It is also expected that mask mandates and lockdowns will be reduced or eliminated. This is expected to last until mid-November.
Here's the latest move to insure that the left doesn't lose its trifecta of political control: charge Republicans under section 3 of the 14th amendment which disfranchised southern politicians after the civil war.
Here is a breakdown of our new congressional districts as submitted by the all new and certifiably neutral committee on redistricting:
This doesn't look all that bad. It seems to allocate 3 districts to Republicans, 3, 4, and 5, and 3 to the Dems, 1. 2. and 6, while leaving 7 and 8 quite competitive. Overall, this is better than I had expected.
Worth noting is that the Dems have an easier time harvesting ballots, which is legal here, since large numbers of their constituents live communally in jails, institutions, and nursing homes. What Republicans need is more candidates named Brandon, as the chant of "Let's Go, Brandon!" seems to be quite popular this year.
Everyone should have a copy of The Prince to hand in their book collection. It embodies the essence of every managerial course you're apt to take to get your MBA except the accounting. Labor-Management relations, HR issues etc, etc. If you don't have one, run down to a used book store and pick one up. I got the paperback for $.10.
In one of my favorite chapters he discusses the methodology of doing distasteful things, which from time to time every manager is forced to do. One of the examples was that of a noble who had successfully engineered a “hostile takeover” of some neighboring territory, and was anxious to win the love of the people of the new lands. This would not be easy, as a hostile takeover in the 1500's was quite literally a hostile act involving armies and battles. Following a victory, the winner had to move quickly to minimize dissent and deal with potential rivals among his former enemies.
To this end, the victorious prince sent one of his ambitious underlings to govern the new lands with orders to crack down hard and make sure everyone understood that no dissent would be tolerated. High taxes and public executions became the order of the day. After 6 months of this, the new prince came to visit the former capitol city in person.
His first act was to greet his deputy, and lock him up. He then went about town asking how things were going, and was told of the harsh rule and high taxes. Terrible conditions. He then called a big gathering in the town square where he assured everyone that he never intended to be anything but Mr Nice Guy, and that the doings of his underling were outrageous and unwarranted. To prove he meant well and would tolerate no abuse of his new subjects, he had the underling, whose tongue had been cut out the night before, brought out and executed by chopping him in half. He also lowered taxes back to levels similar to what they had been and was immediately acclaimed to be a swell fellow by all.
Now move forward to 2020. The Dems win an election, tainted by suggestions of foul play, and elect a demented meat puppet by the greatest margin ever. He, or more properly, the committee running him, proceed to undo everything his predecessor did, alienating about half the country, opens the southern border to anyone, no questions asked, while issuing demands to regular citizens, and imposing huge tax increases and extending regulations to micromanage everyones lives. He gives one of our enemies $80B in military gear, and throws in a couple hundred hostages in case he forgot anything and makes loyalty to his party the big item to consider for military promotions.
Remember that Mr. Biden is NOT the prince here, he's the ambitious underling. The next step, after the worst of the damage is done is the public execution, which in the here and now, will be a low key thing. Also keep in mind that Mrs Harris is also NOT the prince either, and will be run by the same committee as her predecessor. She will be in the position to roll back some of the more egregious insults from Mr Biden, and win a great roar of approval from the adoring press and anyone who still believes anything they say. This is about 30% of the population, currently. With all this favorable coverage, we will be told that polls show overwhelming support for the party, and no one should be surprised to see Dems sweep the 2022 elections by about 5% everywhere. Voting is going on right now in California where Republicans are reporting that they are being told, when they show up to vote, that they have already voted. Anyone want to guess who they've already voted for? No?
This poll suggests that Coloradans love being East California and all that entails, but...
I am suspicious of a poll showing large majorities in favor of rapidly increasing taxes, including fees, high unemployment, large homeless encampments, a new taxing zone for a high speed rail corridor, restrictions on charter schools, etc, etc. When you take a poll, you poll large numbers of people, and sort them by political affiliation, then adjust their weighting to match, say, the turnout from the last election. As well, the poll runs an incumbent against an unknown opponent, never a winning proposition.
Now let's assume that Colorado used the same Dominion voting machines and tabulators that gave Dems a 2-5% boost across the board. One could be left with the idea that there are a lot more "Bernie boys" in this state than there actually are, and that thus, far left positions are much more popular than in actual fact. This can also bias later polls which would be weighted to match fraudulent voter data. Done carefully, this sort of thing can convince the majority that they're in the minority, and depress their turnout in elections, and convince them to leave the state.
This Rassmussen poll suggests that the far left is far less popular than the media would have you believe. The trick here is to get honest polling data out to the electorate to give them some confidence that they are not lonesome voices crying in the wilderness.
UPDATE: I seem to have been right.
Jon Caldera has a nice piece up at Complete Colorado describing in great detail what the notion of "local control" means to Democrats. Bottom line, the state can make living here as onerous as they want, and localities are permitted to make it worse. But only worse.
For myself, I've been ready to decamp to a freer location for the last 10 years as I see Colorado becoming East California, and no real chance of it ever being reversed. After all, our Secretary of State has assured us that we have the cleanest election process in the country, and it's so free of taint that she has issued a ruling that it shall be illegal to investigate any aspect of it.
The reason I'm still here is my spouse, who sees proximity to her sister and daughter as being worth any inconvenience the state wants to impose. She reminds me of a prisoner in the State pen who has served his sentence, but doesn't want to leave because all his friends are there.
From the NYdaily news, here's the other shoe we were (not) waiting for:
Reps. Jerry Nadler, who chairs the powerful House Judiciary Committee, and Mondaire Jones will announce the bill at a press conference outside the Supreme Court on Thursday, according to their offices.
Nadler and Jones will be joined by Georgia Rep. Hank Jones, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee’s sub-panel on courts, and Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey in announcing the high-stakes measure, which is formally called the Judiciary Act of 2021.
I hereby propose the "Kindergarten Format for future presidential debates:
Put plexiglass shields around the candidates podiums, big enough to allow hand waving. candidate mics are normally off. Tell the candidates this is for COVID reasons. Give the moderator 2 big buttons which turn each candidate mic on for, say, 2 minutes. Candidate podiums will have 2 lights, one green and one yellow. Moderator asks a question, and presses the appropriate button. Candidate green light goes on and mic goes live. After 90 seconds, the light goes yellow. After 2 minutes, light goes out and mic goes off. The podium shielding will muffle any overtime shouting and the debate takes on an aura of adult participation. If this seems draconian, have the first debate as usual, with the threat that if it degenerates, the next 2 will happen under the "kindergarten rules".
