Hurricane Milton
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| Milton blew the roof off of the Tropicana Stadium in St. Petersburg, home field of the Tampa Bay Rays |
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About Lies
The preceding posting on Jackspotpourri dealt with lies. Please re-read it! They
are the chief weapon of what is left of the Republican Party, in its efforts to
replace our democracy with an autocratic form of government. Massive lying is their ‘weapon of mass destruction’ aimed at our government.
Professor
Heather Cox Richardson’s posting on her daily ‘Letters from an American’ goes
into this subject in great detail in her postings dated October 6 and October 8,
2024. Please check them out by copying
and pasting https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/ on your browser line or by CLICKING HERE . It is more than
frightening. Read them both!
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*
The
violent weather we’ve been experiencing has not been ignored by Republican
liars, either.
Two
weeks ago, when Hurricane Helene tore through the Southeast, leaving over 200
dead and thousands missing across North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia,
Florida, and Tennessee, Trump, JD Vance, and right-wing media politicized the
crisis, spreading conspiracy theories that undermined rescue efforts. I would hope they don’t do the same regarding
Hurricane Milton.
At
first glance, these lies may seem too absurd to take seriously. Claims that
Democrats are using ‘weather manipulation’ (remember Marjorie Taylor Greene’s
‘Jewish space lasers’) or deliberately withholding aid from Republican
districts might sound ridiculous, but they’re already having a dangerous
impact. The head of FEMA even warned that this misinformation is “truly
dangerous.”
Trump
and his MAGA allies lie to make the Biden-Harris rescue responses seem
ineffective and partisan, falsely claiming that the government is withholding
aid from Republican voters, limiting support for Hurricane Helene victims to
$750, and allocating emergency funds to migrants instead of disaster response. That’s a lie.
The $750 is an emergency, no-questions-asked, stopgap payment for those
with no remaining financial resources; greater, meaningful, benefits are
available through FEMA.
And
there’s even more. Trump backer Elon Musk took these lies further by spreading
completely fabricated claims on ‘X’ (which he owns) that North Carolina
government officials were arresting FEMA officers as claimed by JD Vance in a
Wall Street Journal op-ed, quickly debunked by the public statements of
Republican governors in Tennessee and Georgia who praised the Biden-Harris
response. According to a media report, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper called
Vance’s op-ed ‘appalling.’ More Lies!
Now, as recovery efforts from Hurricane Milton join the
Hurricane Helene efforts, FEMA officials are concerned that people might be reluctant to seek help because they believe these lies. (See the article further along in this
posting about ‘low-information voters.’)
JL
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* *
Conditioning
the Public to Believe Lies
And while we’re on the subject of lying, let’s not excuse the
dishonest commercial advertising based on ambiguities and half-truths, on TV
and elsewhere, that condition Americans to buy into real, totally fabricated, Republican lies!
I could spend an entire posting on Jackspotpourri to describe
them, but you know what they are. A
typical one, for example, is boasting of savings ‘up
to’ a specific amount, which of course can describe a penny of savings
or even no savings whatsoever. (‘Buy now and save up to thousands of
dollars.’)
These
half-truths, I repeat, condition Americans to fall
for the far bigger lies told by politicians, lies that threaten our
democracy.
JL
* * *
Low-Information
Voters
I
am no great fan of columnist Jonah Goldberg, but here’s an excerpt from his
recent column entitled ‘The Strategy Lying Behind Trump’s Dark Speeches' (as it
appeared in the Palm Beach Post).’
‘I don’t have a lot of respect or admiration for the sort of
low-information voters who have to be duped with apocalyptic and demonizing
bilge. But I have greater contempt for
the voters and especially the leaders who condone the strategy even though they
know better… ‘
This fits in nicely with the Republicans’ heavy
dependence upon lies in their campaigning. Democrats must remember that a vote from one
of those ‘low-information’
voters counts just as much as a vote from a well-informed,
thinking, voter. And there are many such
‘low-information’
voters in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona,
Georgia, North Carolina, and of course in Florida, where they form a solid
majority. Democrats must find a way
of reaching them.
JL
* * *
Retaining
Control of the Senate is Vitally Important
Regardless of who wins the presidency and control of the House
of Representatives, it is most crucial that Democrats remain in control of
the Senate. That is where Supreme Court nominees are
confirmed and impeachments by the House are voted upon. While financial legislation originates in the
House, it must pass in the Senate as well.
Here are eleven seats that Democrats must win. You
can make that happen!
In Florida, Debbie Muscarsel-Powell is attempting to unseat Rick Scott, the wealthiest Senator of all 100, who is no friend of Social Security, Medicare, and most other programs designed to benefit ordinary people. If you are a Florida voter, please work for her election and donate to her campaign at https://www.debbieforflorida.com/ or by simply CLICKING HERE.
Also
running to capture the seats of incumbent Republican Senators are Colin Allred (Texas) and Gloria Johnson
(Tennessee).
Running
to defend Senate seats presently held by Democrats are Lisa
Blunt Rochester (Delaware), Ruben Gallego (Arizona), and Angela Alsobrooks
(Maryland).
Finally,
these Democratic Senators are running to retain their seats: Jon Tester (Montana), Jacky Rosen (Nevada), Sherrod Brown
(Ohio), Bob Casey (Pennsylvania) and Tammy Baldwin (Wisconsin).
If
you have friends or relatives in these States, give them a call! And your donations
to help the campaigns of ALL Democrats running for Senate seats will be
welcomed by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign at https://www.dscc.org. You can CLICK HERE to reach their site.
JL
* * *
New
York’s Mayor in the Spotlight
I
am sickened by the corruption with which New York’s mayor is being
charged. From the news accounts I have
read, he was not reluctant to appoint relatives and friends to various city
posts, and they seem to have shared in the actions of his lawbreaking
administration. These are not situations
where resignations will suffice. If the
charges result in indictments by grand juries, there should be trials for all
involved, to make sure justice is served in the interest of the people.
And watch for the vicious undercurrent which Mayor Adams’
activities have stirred up, concerning a dark period of American history.
After
the Civil War, white Southerners feared that giving the vote to former slaves
would result in unqualified black dominated governments that would pilfer State
treasuries for their own personal benefit.
It took Lyndon Johnson’s 1964 civil rights legislation to start to reverse
State racist laws these Southern bigots had successfully put into place to
lessen the influence of the freed slaves and their descendants.
Today’s
Republican Party includes many who fear that the presence of many persons of
color among the Democratic Party’s leadership will have the same result
nationally as Southerners feared in 1865.
New York’s Mayor Adams makes it easy for that bigoted element of the
G.O.P. to seek support for unspoken racists such as Trump and Vance.
Therefore, Democrats must conspicuously lead the way in
investigating Adams’ corruption and that of his hangers-on and offer them no shelter
nor salvation. Not
doing that will aid the Trump campaign, where some post-Civil War racist
thinking persists. Things like this
influence voters, including those silent ones who only reveal their racism when
they vote.
JL
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Housekeeping on Jackspotpourri
Forwarding
Postings: Please
forward this posting to anyone you think might benefit from reading it
(Friends, relatives, enemies, etc.) If you want to send someone the blog, you
can just tell them to check it out by visiting
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Google
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Either
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Email Alerts: If you are NOT receiving emails from me alerting you each time there is a new posting on Jackspotpourri, just send me your email address and we’ll see that you do. And if you are forwarding a posting to someone, you might suggest that they do the same, so they will be similarly alerted. You can pass those email addresses to me by email at jacklippman18@gmail.com.
Again,
I urge you to forward this posting to anyone you think might benefit from
reading it, particularly if they are a registered voter. There’s less than a
month remaining until Election Day. Spread the word.
JL
* * *
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