Marshall Kesterson

Let Justice Be Done Though The Heavens Fall. He/Him/His.

[Peter Hamby @PeterHamby]

Did Speaker Johnson think something was wrong in 2022 when it took weeks to count the California ballots - resulting in Republicans winning several tight House races?

[Cody Johnston @drmistercody]

Liars got their new lie for the day.

[Stephen Richer @stephen_richer]

Sigh. Why won't anyone do research before posting?

Responding to your six points.

1. Yes. It is legal. States have different laws.

Still has to come from a registered voter, has to be returned in the return envelope assigned to that voter, there is no evidence of mass mail theft, and it has to have the voter's signature, which is checked (part of why it takes a long time).

2. California verifies identity through return envelope barcode and signature verification -- as is done for many financial and legal instruments.

This is the same way it's done in Utah, Colorado, Arizona, Oregon, Washington, etc.

3. Unattended drop boxes. You do realize that every USPS box is an "unattended drop box," right?

That's why it's nice that all Californians can track their mail ballots. And so too can the election officials.

4. Homeless regularly paid to vote. I'll settle for 5 proven examples in recent elections. Also, homeless are allowed to register and vote.

5. You're just pointing out that California is an "all mail" state and that almost everyone votes by mail as a result. Yes. And that's part of why it takes so long.

California does voter list maintenance. Otherwise it would have a laundry list of lawsuits under the NVRA.

And, for better or worse, you can't remove somebody from voter rolls just because he doesn't vote. So if you, e.g., move out of an apartment, but don't tell the registrar, and don't fill out change of address with USPS, then a mail ballot is still showing up to your address. And if the new resident simply throws it in the trash, then you're not taken off the voter rolls just because you didn't return a ballot.

Now, if you're suggesting that states should share information with each other, such that they know when somebody registers in a different state, then I agree with you.

That's why California should join ERIC. And it's why it's a shame that some states have left ERIC in recent years. That's bad for voter list maintenance.

6. This is just comparing apples to oranges. And you can easily Google the differences in the two systems.

But first, as a factual predicate, you might want to be more careful. I'd suggest you start with this New York Times article: "Why Do Elections in India Take So Long?"

https://t.co/FxLClkvYrv

[Jonah Goldberg @JonahDispatch]

Maybe because he literally just put an entirely unqualified political hatchet man in charge of the DNI — while we’re at war — and the only reason he could give was that he would look into the “stolen” election bullshit? He’s making hugely important decisions based on a lie. That seems worth paying attention to. He also tried to set up a compensation fund for people who, inspired by his promulgation of that lie, laid siege to the Capitol. Oh and the only legislation he cares about is all wrapped up in his delusions about how elections are stolen. I can keep coming up with reasons. But the fact that the president still thinks his lie should drive policy and personnel (several J6ers work in the administration) that makes it relevant, imho.

[Cody Johnston @drmistercody]

@JDVance People don't consider how their ideas will collide with actual human behavior. Take for example this program we named after a wildly unpopular president and rapist.

[Adam Mockler @adammocklerr]

@realDailyWire Fuck off, you guys cheered on Trump as he danced on Mueller’s grave, called Tim Walz a “retard”, posted AI fat shaming memes of Pritzker, and AI videos of Obama getting arrested.

You created this environment. You don’t get to run away now.

[Gregg Carlstrom @glcarlstrom]

We are so far into "mad king" territory that the White House may not even bother to clarify whether Trump just confused Oman with Iran or is indeed threatening to bomb Oman

[David Weigel @daveweigel]

Paxton, Gill, and Sarah Gonzales all used their rally speeches to bring up Talarico's 2023 interview on Superbloom.

Asked what he loved that wasn't "family or friends," Talarico said: "I love the trans children who showed up yesterday at the state capitol to advocate for their humanity."

In GOP messaging, this has become: Talarico is a weirdo who thinks about "trans kids" all day. (Gonzales said "check his hard drive!")

It's not exactly subtle, but: One of Talarico's premises is that he's a moral, Christian man running against a creep with a messy divorce.

The counterpunch from Rs: Talarico is a childless pervert, probably gay (where's the girlfriend he keeps talking about?). He awfully seems *concerned* about Ken Paxton's litigation against gender medicine for children, doesn't he?

It was predictable that TX Rs would go there. They got a media backlash to trans litigation/legislation in 2021, then swept the 2022 races. Message: This is a winning issue and we believe in it.

When Talarico got into this race, I asked him: Republicans cite scripture, usually Matthew 18:6, to explain why they legislate on this. Why are they wrong?

His answer:

"I think we agree that we need to protect children, and that's good. That's a solid piece of common ground that we should be able to come together on. You know, I think I just tend to trust parents to take care of their children more than I trust the government to take care of those children. I believe parental rights are sacred and shouldn't be overridden by politicians at the state capitol or the national capitol. So I think that's the primary difference on that issue."

[Tim Miller @Timodc]

@EsotericCD Not liking Talarico's schtick i get but "morally worse?" Than a thief, fraudster, and adulterer? Bizarre.

[Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @ReichlinMelnick]

This plan is actively *insane.* Airlines cannot divert large numbers of international flights from one city to another; they'd just have to cancel flights en masse, causing enormous economic damage that splashed waaaaay beyond a few big cities that were the target.

[John Harwood @JohnJHarwood]

how stupid does he think everyone else in the world is?

[Post-Left Watch (postleftwatch.bsky.social) @PostLeftWatch]

There needs to be a Jubilee where Glenn Greenwald debates clips of him saying all the stupid pro-Trump shit he's pushed for the last decade

[☠️ Lilith Lovett ☠️ same @ on 💙☁️🦋 @LilithLovett]

He’s a mayor of a city, tf is Zohran gonna do? 😭

[Mehdi Hasan @mehdirhasan]

Beyond parody

[John Harwood @JohnJHarwood]

Biden was not president
when Trump's tax returns were leaked

Trump was

the lying by Republicans like Mike Lawler is utterly shameless

[Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @ReichlinMelnick]

I will never get used to this kind of obscenity being used in an official statement by the White House Communication Director.

The White House no longer aspires to lead from a higher moral vantage point, it seeks to fight in the mud with the pigs.

[Ken Klippenstein @kenklippenstein]

@DrEliDavid There is no agreed MOU - you made that up

[Mehdi Hasan @mehdirhasan]

His former boss and predecessor said it was ‘sitting on my desk right now’ so either he is lying or Bondi was.

[Sarah Longwell @SarahLongwell25]

Amazing what happens when these guys lose. They all of a sudden start understanding right from wrong again. Wonder why that is?

[Sam Stein @samstein]

to top it off, he's unrepentant about J6 and also still believes the election lies