You really, really, REALLY couldn't make this shit up

[Bicycle Bill]

The more I see how this campaign cycle is playing out and the fact that there is still enough of a plausible chance that Trump, his lackeys, and his brain-dead followers could pervert, subvert, hijack, rig, lie, cheat, and just generally fuck up this election enough to wind up putting him back in the White House for four more years, the more I'm beginning to think that RayThom, LJ, and the roughly 200K (so far) COVID victims are the lucky ones.  At least they're clear of the current bullshit and the coming fallout.  And mark my words, there will be fallout no matter what; even if Trump does get beaten like a floor tom during a drum solo, he ain't going to go away quietly.

And don't tell me not to worry because the polls say this or the polls say that.  The polls said Trump didn't stand a chance in 2016, either, but you see where we are now.

-"BB"-

[Scooter]

"We promise that we're definitely not colluding with the Russians this time.

Honest!

Trust us!"

[Scooter]

The Trump administration is in court arguing that it can set a cutoff date that will make it impossible to complete the census count, because there is nothing in the Constitution requiring that the census be accurate.

Constitution doesn't require census to be accurate, Trump administration says

The Trump administration argued on Friday against a challenge to its 2020 census plans by saying the Constitution requires a count but does not say it must be accurate.

"It cannot be the case that accuracy in and of itself establishes some sort of -- is established in the enumeration clause" of the Constitution, Justice Department attorney Alexander Sverdlov told a federal judge in California.

He claimed the National Urban League and other groups challenging the administration's plan to end the counting of the entire US population in September, rather than October, are inventing a new reading of the Constitution.

Their argument, he said, is that the "enumeration clause contains a heretofore unknown standard of accuracy that cannot really be measured by courts."

Sverdlov acknowledged the Census Bureau has set its own "internal metrics and standards but that doesn't mean that they're judicially enforceable."

The lawsuit from the groups and several municipal governments argues that Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross acted unreasonably when he announced on August 3 that counting would end on September 30. In April, the Census Bureau announced that it was rescheduling operations due to the coronavirus pandemic, and would conduct the decennial count through October 31.

Census officials warned Ross that the new cutoff would risk "serious errors," internal documents show.

Ross stated that the September 30 cutoff was necessary so that the Census Bureau could crunch the data. Federal law says the numbers used to divide up seats in Congress among the states are due by December 31.

Sverdlov said the Census Bureau has not missed that deadline in decades. In another court appearance this week, Justice Department attorney Brad Rosenberg said missing the deadline is uncharted territory and suggested it would be grounds for Congress to reject the numbers.

Melissa Sherry, the attorney arguing for the groups, rejected Sverdlov's characterization of her arguments and said the government is taking "an extreme position on everything."

"We are not asking for perfect accuracy," she said. "I think if you take their position seriously, they would say that the Census Bureau can just decide that you know what, we're going to have one enumerator for one week walk across the country. However many people he can count ... that's going to be our census."

Sherry pointed to the career official overseeing the 2020 census, who said in July that the government did not have enough time to meet the December deadline. "We are past the window of being able get those counts by those dates at this point," said associate census director Al Fontenot.

Fontenot said in court documents filed recently that in late July, Ross had instructed Census Bureau officials to present within days a plan to conclude the census by the September date.

"We're saying the Census Bureau can't adopt a plan that undermines the purpose of accuracy, that undermines that in the bureau's own words, that of their own officials, that they can't do what they're now trying to do and achieve an accurate enough count," Sherry said.

The government faces a Friday night deadline to submit to the court as many as 15,000 pages of internal records explaining how the census timeline changed. Judge Lucy Koh said she has assembled a panel of magistrate judges to review any challenges over whether specific pages should not be released publicly.

"Please be reasonable," Koh told both sides.

It's a tight timeline to review a hefty stack of records: The documents are essentially evidence that will be considered at oral arguments on Tuesday.

On Thursday, Koh extended into next week a temporary order blocking the administration from concluding counting while the arguments play out.

[ex-khobar Andy]

DeJoy is of course a lying turd so he fits right in. The Guardian is reporting that USPS late deliveries of mail increased markedly after he was appointed PMG and, the judge who blocked DeJoy's 'improvement' efforts wrote: “It is easy to conclude that the recent Postal Services’ changes is an intentional effort on the part the current Administration to disrupt and challenge the legitimacy of upcoming local, state, and federal elections.”

Someone in the House 'Making Signs so that People Feel Important Office' can't spell but I won't blame Trump for that one.

[Scooter]

Eric Trump claims he’s part of the LGBTQ community

President Donald Trump’s son, Eric Trump, raised eyebrows this morning when he claimed he was part of the LGBTQ community during an interview on Fox News. He is not.

“The LGBT community, they are incredible,” Eric Trump said, “and you should see how they come out in full force for my father every single day. I’m part of that community, and we love the man.”

Trump was commenting on a recent New York Times column about a lesbian who says she is supporting Donald Trump.

Republicans have been trying to win votes in the LGBTQ community by gaslighting voters on the president’s record on queer issues. While he has undoubtedly been the most harmful, the GOP is trying to sell him as “the most pro-gay president in American history.”

Like his father, Eric Trump is known for sticking his foot in his mouth. While he was obviously referring to people in the community and what they’re telling him – and likely claiming allyship despite numerous anti-LGBTQ tweets and statements of his own.

Needless to say, his statement caused some confusion and laughter online.

UPDATE: Trump has clarified his comments. In a statement to The Post, Trump said he was paraphrasing LGBTQ supporters.

“To clarify, many of our close friends are part of the LGBT community, which was the intent of my statement — the left has taken that vote for granted for a long time and support from the gay community for my father is incredible,” he said.

“As to me personally, as I think you know, I am a happily married man to my wife, Lara.”

[Scooter]

Witness calls cops on ‘Homeless Jesus’ statue 20 minutes after installation

A statue depicting a homeless Jesus lying on a bench outside an Ohio church drew a police response the day it was installed when somebody thought it was a real person.

The statue was placed on the grounds of St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Bay Village on Monday, the church announced on Twitter.

Twenty minutes later, the cops were called, according to the church’s pastor, Alex Martin.

“I was having a conversation with a very kind police officer because someone called to report a homeless man sleeping on a park bench. Within twenty minutes…” Martin tweeted.

The sculpture, designed by Timothy Schmalz, has been placed at various churches and religious organizations in the area since October 2018, Cleveland Scene reported.

St. Barnabas will host the statue until Dec. 1, the report said.

Martin, in an email to Scene, explained the significance of the statue.

“Perhaps the statue will inspire those who see it to take action and help… Seeing Jesus depicted this way reminds us that Jesus identified with the outcast and marginalized in his own day,” Martin wrote.

“He spent much of his time with tax collectors and prostitutes, largely to the chagrin of polite society.”

[Scooter]

Not to be confused with the hotel, Trump's legal team held its Philadelphia press conference at Four Seasons Total Landscaping:



which is nestled between a sex club:



and a crematorium:

[BoSoxGal]

Is it any wonder we have the worst national government pandemic response in the developed world?

[Burning Petard]

I resent some of the implications of this recent revelation about the personal lawyer of our lame duck POTUS.

The Delaware Valley Cremation Society has a very nice web site. They provided me with their services in a very professional and sympathetic style.

They made promises and they kept them and did it all for a smaller fee than anyone else I contacted. I fully and strongly recommend this organization, should the family of this wonderful lawyer need such services.

snailgate.

[dales]

Is it any wonder we have the worst national government pandemic response in the developed world?

I would venture to guess the "undeveloped" world as well.

With tRump gone in 2021 I hope that the adults will now be in charge.

[Bicycle Bill]

Not to be confused with the hotel, Trump's legal team held its Philadelphia press conference at Four Seasons Total Landscaping:

A post-election Presidential press conference with such sparse attendance?  How quickly the bloom goes off the rose!!  Unless there's a whole goddammed shitload of people off-camera, I was at a event in Wisconsin when then-governor Tommy Thompson opened an extension to the Elroy-Sparta Bicycle Trail that attracted more people.

Secondly, they supposedly were intending to book the Four Seasons Hotel, which I don't suppose comes cheap.  Wonder if the landscaping service got the full amount they would have paid the hotel or if Trump shorted them too?

-"BB"-

[ex-khobar Andy]

I think it was planned. Donnie is going to need a job (along with his relatives) - a bit of shit shoveling with a landscaping company may be just the ticket! He has the experience. And he can always pop next door for a quick one during his lunch break.

[Sue U]

Wow, nothing says "winner" like that pic!

BTW, I am very familiar with that location, it's right over the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge (the "discount" bridge between Philly and South Jersey). It is a particularly nasty industrial area conveniently close to several Philadelphia prison facilities.

[Scooter]

Just when you thought this fiasco couldn't generate any more fodder for the comedians:

Man featured at Giuliani press conference is a convicted sex offender

The first person Rudy Giuliani, the attorney for President Donald Trump, called up as a witness to baseless allegations of vote counting shenanigans in Philadelphia during a press conference last week is a sex offender who for years has been a perennial candidate in New Jersey.

“It’s such a shame. This is a democracy,” Daryl Brooks, who said he was a GOP poll watcher, said at the press conference, held at Four Seasons Total Landscaping in Northeast Philadelphia. “They did not allow us to see anything. Was it corrupt or not? But give us an opportunity as poll watchers to view all the documents — all of the ballots.”

Trenton political insiders watched with bemusement as Brooks took the podium.

Brooks was incarcerated in the 1990s on charges of sexual assault, lewdness and endangering the welfare of a minor for exposing himself to two girls ages 7 and 11, according to news accounts.

Brooks has run for various offices, including U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives.

“I started watching it and all of a sudden I was like, ‘there’s New Jersey’s perennial candidate claiming to live in Philadelphia and Giuliani claiming him to be a poll watcher and Philadelphia resident," Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora said in a phone interview.

James Gee, chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.), also said he immediately recognized Brooks.

“Yeah, I know Daryl. It’s so fitting that he would be there,” Gee said.

Gee said he believed Brooks was hired for Hillary Clinton‘s campaign in 2016.

“People don’t pay attention to who they hire. They’re just trying to get bodies, particularly if it’s a white organizer,” said Gee, who’s Black. “And this time apparently, I guess he was on the Republican side of the watchers.“

Brooks said in a phone interview late Monday morning that he did not know if Giuliani knew about his conviction, but said he didn’t think it was relevant.

“I’m not sure, but all he asked — he was asking about the truth. I told him the truth and the other ones told him the truth,” Brooks said.

He also said he did not work directly for Clinton’s campaign in 2016, but for a third-party, pro-Clinton group he declined to name.

Brooks continued to deny the charges he was convicted of, alleging the victims were the children of neighborhood drug dealers he had targeted in his community activism. He also alleged Trenton politicians he criticized played a role as well.

“I went to prison for three-and-a-half years. That’s what they said I was did. I was 25-years-old,” Brooks said. “I was an activist always doing the right thing. They lied on me. The cops set me up.”

The conviction has never been reversed.

[Joe Guy]

Brooks was incarcerated in the 1990s on charges of sexual assault, lewdness and endangering the welfare of a minor for exposing himself to two girls ages 7 and 11, according to news accounts.

Sounds more like someone who wants people to watch his pole rather than someone who wants to watch polls.

[Scooter]

[BoSoxGal]

[Joe Guy]

[Bicycle Bill]

There's got to be a story behind that clip, and the guy just wandering back and forth across the stage, moving in and out of the shot ...
and I, for one, would LOVE to know what it is.

And since these 'angels' are coming from South America and Africa, we got nothing to worry about.  Trump's own immigration rules and policies will prevent anyone, even angels, from coming in from those shit-hole countries.

-"BB"-

[Scooter]