Ron Filipkowski is a fount of information about political news, both on Twitter and as editor of Meidas News, where he is editor. This is his latest roundup. My favorite tidbit: The Trump Bibles that sell for $60 are made in China for $3.
… Trump continued to lash out at 60 Minutes and CBS, demanding that all media companies lose their right to broadcast on public airwaves and calling for an investigation because they edited Harris’ interview down to fit the time slot like they do all interviews. Most likely what Crybaby Trump is upset about is their brutal opening where they detailed the lies he told to justify chickening out of his own interview on the show.
… Speaking of chickening out, Trump also reiterated in a post on Truth Social that he would not debate Harris again since he won so convincingly last time. I’m sure that must be the reason. Harris then accepted CNN’s invitation for a town hall. Trump is invited but not likely he will show.
… RFK Jr’s mom Ethel Kennedy died today at age 96. She had to raise 11 children of her own after her husband was assassinated. None more difficult and caused her more pain and stress than his namesake. RIP to a strong woman.
… Trump filed a motion with Judge Chutkan today to block the release of any additional evidence in pre-trial court filings by Jack Smithuntil after the election, claiming that they are designed to interfere in the election. Judge Chutkan issued an order hours later permitting Smith to publicly file all his exhibits but delayed it a week to give Trump time to file an appeal.
… The NYT is getting roasted for another insane headline as they continue their quest to both-sides their way to autocracy while sanewashing the Orange Menace. In response to Trump’s latest comments about migrants being predisposed to murder because of “bad genes,” the Times headline said that he “invoked his long-held fascination with genes and genetics.” Just like Heinrich Himmler.
… Ron Desantis had another one of his Angry Bobblehead press conferences where he wanted to make it clear to everyone that he is in charge of hurricane response and not the federal government. Because that’s what people really care about. He did concede that he was working well with the feds and getting everything he needed from them, but still wanted to make it clear that he was The Man.
… Anna Paulina Luna, who previously voted against FEMA funding and had her district take a direct hit from the storm, said she spoke with Biden and appreciated his comments, then called for Mike Johnson to reverse course and call the House back into session for additional FEMA aid. It’s all socialism until something affects their districts and threatens their reelection.
… Pretty obvious Luna is in trouble in her reelection as a do-nothing angertainment specialist. She continued to push the right-wing lie that FEMA only provides $750 in assistance for storm victims. She knows damn well that is just the initial payment for immediate necessities like food and gas, but she wants to be able to claim credit for it when they get more – as if she got Biden to come up with more with her phone call. It is probably the only district in FL that Dems have a shot at flipping, so fun to watch her panic right now.
… Mike Johnson posted that he was praying for hurricane victims but wasn’t calling his Members back from the campaign trail in their districts to vote on storm aid. They get Mike’s prayers but none of Uncle Sam’s money.
… Joe Biden held a press conference and forcefully called on Johnson to call the House back in session “immediately” to pass more storm aid. Johnson issued a statement late in the day that under no circumstances will he be calling for a session to deal with FEMA funding. He doesn’t want to pull his people off the campaign trail for trivial matters like storm aid.
… Barack Obama spoke to a packed house in Pittsburgh tonight for Harris. It’s all hands on deck now.
… Whoopi Goldberg responded to Trump’s long rant about her last night where he claimed that he once left a party she was at because she was too loud and profane. Whoopi said he knew she had a filthy mouth when he hired her to work at his casino, and said she might still be working there if he hadn’t run it into the ground with his incompetence.
… After being challenged repeatedly to produce proof of his claim that he was named ‘Michigan Man of the Year,’ Trump unveiled his “proof” today in his speech to the Detroit Economic Club – an article in a local paper quoting a MI county GOP official who says he gave him the award in 2013. The paper then immediately issued a retraction and said the GOP official lied to them in the original story.
… In his speech, Trump continued to argue that the US should return to an 1890s-style mercantilist economy with massive new tariffs on imported goods. This comes two days after we learn he makes his $60 Bibles in China for $3.
… Kari Lake referred to IVF as UFV three separate times during her debate with Ruben Gallego.
… The Harris campaign just made a big ad buy on two major hip/hop/R&B radio stations in PA. Both camps going all-in on crucial PA.
… The Atlantic endorsed Harris for president, stating that Trump is a threat to American democracy.
… ATL Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms was denied service at an Atlanta area restaurant because she was wearing yoga pants. She complained about several white people being seated in shorts and tee shirts. The manager told her that he could seat her in an hour. She left.
… Inflation numbers were out this morning and they continued to drop for the 6th consecutive month, returning to pre-pandemic levels. Should be good news for Harris, but it doesn’t seem like Biden/Harris are getting the credit they deserve from voters for a soft landing after inheriting Trump’s mess.
… Trump gave a speech today at the Detroit Economic Club where he claimed that today’s inflation report is double what was projected – a flat out lie. He then repeated his claim that the stock market is only up because he’s leading in the polls. The problem for him is that this time he’s speaking to people who know better instead of his rally cultists.
… He also told the audience in Detroit that their city was a hellhole and the whole country would turn into Detroit if Harris was president. Interesting strategy. Gov Gretchen Whitmerresponded on Twitter than Trump needed to “keep Detroit out of your mouth” and vowed that Michigan voters would end his political career for good.
… Trump also continued to rant about CBS and 60 Minutes in his speech today, which was supposed to be about the economy.
… We also learned from Trump today that California has had virtually no electricity for many years since they have blackouts every week. Thoughts and prayers my friends on the west coast, I had no idea how much you have been suffering.
… Liz Cheney has been a key surrogate campaigning for Harris in WI, where moderate Republican Haley voters make of the majority of the undecideds. She is the right person to connect with those voters with the exact message that will resonate with them – they may think Harris is too liberal, but Trump is a threat to the Republic and our allies abroad.
… DoritoGate – A video of Gretchen Whitmer feeding a Dorito to a podcaster has gone viral all over right-wing social media. They claim she is mocking the Eucharist and is another sign the the Left hates and mocks Catholics. Stephen Miller, who is Jewish, claimed the Dorito incident was going to cost Harris the Catholic vote and the election. MO Senator Eric Schmitt was the most prominent politician to weigh in feigning religious persecution. A spokesperson for Whitmer said she was promoting Biden’s CHIPS Act in a nod to humorous issue-oriented food TikToks that many pop culture stars have done such as Billie Eilish and Kylie Jenner. I’m not a TikToker, but I guess this is a thing.

“The NYT is getting roasted for another insane headline as they continue their quest to both-sides their way to autocracy while sanewashing the Orange Menace. In response to Trump’s latest comments about migrants being predisposed to murder because of “bad genes,” the Times headline said that he “invoked his long-held fascination with genes and genetics.”
Yep. The NYT wouldn’t want to write anything that might suggest Trump was unfit to be president. Trump is a Republican, so he is not treated like Biden, or Gore, or Kerry, or Walz or Kamala, where the NYT reporters believe it is their sacred journalistic duty to inform the voters in dozens or hundreds of articles that not only did the Dem do (insert right wing talking point here), but that terrible (right wing talking point) offense that the Democrat committed means that many voters correctly have serious doubts and concerns that the Dem is fit to be president.
Trump did something truly despicable? NYT sanewashes it to signal that
“even the liberal media” knows it’s just not very important and voters shouldn’t be concerned about it. Like Jack Smith’s evidence. Like what Trump did in Georgia. Like Trump’s cognitive failings and obvious moral unfitness to be president. It’s just not relevant to the election because the NYT already mentioned it once in a story and proved how “anti-Trump” they were for saying Trump was fascinated with genes and genetics, and the NYT journalists abjectly apologize to Trump for writing such an outrageously anti-Trump article. They promise to immediately write a dozen negative articles about the serious trust issues voters have with Kamala and Walz because of their “lies” and “dodges” to make up for their outrageous bias against Trump in that story.
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Just saw this, seemed worth passing on. Gift link below.
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& GO AZ WOMEN!!! Latest polling is Harris trailing it45 in AZ. Need canvassing; calls & cards from all other states!
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I recently had occasion to visit in Hattiesburg, MS. We always drive the backroads, which pass through small town after soybean field. From deep Mississippi to northern Alabama, there were two Trump signs and one Harris. That is 300 miles. We have 5 Trump and one Harris on my road alone. I am not sure what this says.
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Roy,
Can you explain why Trump is so adored by rural folk and poorly educated whites? My older sister is a Trumper and she gets all her info from FOX and Trump websites. She thinks he cares about her. She parrots all the lies he tells. She believes him. I don’t get it.
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I believe all supporters of candidates post newspapers can be explained by their consumption of particular media. This goes for me, and it’s goes for Trump supporters.
To a person, the avid Trump supporters I know watch Faux Spews, listen to right wing talk radio, and often some “Christian “ broadcast news.
What confounds me is the Trump signs in rural Tennessee and their absence in rural Mississippi and Alabama.
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Another profile is the slice of the population that is poorly educated because they read. They read a lot, so much that Barnes and Noble has, ever since Clinton, had a dedicated shelf selling expose’ literature that “proves” the intellectual bankruptcy of people like you and me.
Then there is the rascist vote. No explanation needed.
Finally, there is the political tendency toward loyalty. John Prine described his grandfather in a song back in the 70s. He sung that his grandfather “voted for Eisenhower cause Lincoln won the war.” Many people I know will vote for Trump because they think Reagan won the war against liberals and communists. No reason and factual information will disposes them of this fantasy.
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John Prine was wonderful.
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FLerp: Prime’s line reminded me of an old man in my hometown who was a lifelong Democrat because his father had sworn him to it on his deathbed. Then there was my Uncle, who voted for McGovern in 72 becss as use he remembered Roosevelt in 32. Prine could boil all this down to a line in a song using simple words
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I missed this exchange yesterday…subbing in a high school English class then volunteering at a BBQ benefiting a wonderful foundation that supports kids here in town.
(Thank God I became a teacher. Ever face down a crowd that paid for their chicken but the food is late getting prepared? I would’ve never made it in the restaurant business.)
The New Yorker had an interesting statistic last February which I’m sure you’ve seen some version of:
“During the last Presidential election , Joe Biden won fewer than five hundred counties, but, according to one estimate, they together represented about seventy per cent of America’s economic activity. Donald Trump won five times as many counties, but they represented only about thirty percent of the nation’s economic activity.”
It’s been well documented (and discussed on this blog) how the global, high tech economy has left large swaths of our fellow citizens behind, often in rural areas. And, that “creative destruction” (a phrase I abhor) has fueled a vicious turn to the far right, not just here in the U.S. but around the world.
Oddly, by dint of history, the rural parts of our country hold an outsized amount of political power due to the weirdo set up of our Electoral College and the U.S. Senate. (Imagine a huge, country-wide mouse trap that keeps snapping on us every four years. A mechanism of our own making.)
I understand Diane’s intent when she uses the phrase “poorly educated whites”. But the rage so many of our fellow Americans feel in being left behind economically in 2024 is deep and bitter. And, millions of these citizens can and will soon vote.
I can just imagine one of my country neighbors talking about “city people” and their complete ignorance of how things really work. Could these ‘urban folk’ provide food for their families if the high tech world suddenly crashed? Could they heat their homes? Run a chainsaw? What DO they really know?
Meanwhile, many rural schools here in Upstate New York are being hit hard by heartless aid cuts made by a Democratic governor and legislature. And, it’s only going to get worse, apparently.
All this coming after the ‘Race to The Flop” and other Democratic education “reform” debacles only made an already bad situation worse.
I’m not excusing, just adding to the discussion. It is heartbreaking to live amidst this very slow motion kind of national car wreck. And, we’re ALL in that same out of control vehicle, so to speak.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/02/05/the-rural-ski-slope-caught-up-in-an-international-scam
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Thank you, John, for your comment. I probably was thinking of my own sister, who has a year of college and is a zealous Trumper. She gets her view of the world from FOX and web groups of the like minded.
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It’s a very, very sad thing to have people you know and love who are supporting a candidate who is basically the undoing of our country. Devastating is the word.
For decades I stood in front of high school classes (largely inclined to be lifelong Republicans) encouraging those students to register and vote. I’ve personally registered many hundreds of probable Trump voters during my teaching career.
Now I find myself with the impulse to tell those conservatives that if they can’t vote for Kamala, then please don’t vote. Or, just vote in the down-ballot races.
That’s a very odd position to be in.
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John– “the rage so many of our fellow Americans feel in being left behind economically in 2024 is deep and bitter.”
And the causes are indeed a “slow-motion car wreck” created by 44 years of both Rep & Dem policy. Over those years, the rich grew richer at a far greater pace than previously, while middle/ working class salaries stagnated, well-paying job opportunities dwindled, and housing/ healthcare/ higher ed costs spiraled. The rage should have set in decades ago. Finally unleashed to power votes by political manipulators cynically posing as ‘anti-govt’ ‘outsiders.’
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Traitor Trump’s $100k wristwatches.
An expert says if the $100,000 [Traitor} Triumph wristwatch comes with everything Trump claims, it will only costs $25k to make.
Watch expert says $100K Trump gold watch only costs $25K to make – Sherwood News
Also, CBS reports all sales for [Traitor} Trump watches are final – no refunds.
“Final sales — no refunds
“The website also notes that all watch sales are final, and no refunds will be provided.” … “None of the proceeds from the Trump Watches sales will go to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, according to the site. “
Trump debuts new product line: Watches selling for up to $100,000 – CBS News
I wonder how many Traitor Trump bibles, tennis shoes, watches et al, Putin orders.
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We should all care about what Whoopi Goldberg thinks. (LOL!)
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President Biden should have a pat answer when talking about disaster relief, “We are working desperately on supporting Americans lives who have been devastated by the two hurricanes, however things would be much better when Mike Johnson calls the House back into session to deal with him leaving FEMA funding out of the continuing resolution.”
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