Congrats on missing the best part of the Trump dancing story: the first song that played after he called for music was “Time to Say Goodbye.”

Unfortunately, if people believe in the great replacement ("elites are working to replace the white population with immigrants"), they'll probably also believe that government is sending hurricanes their way to "depopulate the country". The details, like the science behind it, don't really matter once you have gone that far down the rabbit hole of finding scapegoats for problems one has, which shouldn't be denied.

@1,

I've always thought it funny that so many of his rallies are nothing more than 2 solid hours of him whining about not getting to serve another term, then to close it out you always hear the Stones' You Can't Always Get What You Want come blaring out over the PA.

Let’s say the government can control the weather. What do they gain from causing billions of dollars in economic loss and rendering thousands of miles of highly valuable, highly taxable land uninsurable?

Seems like the better option would be great weather so people can buy oceanfront properties and go to the beach and do other things that generate taxable economic activity, but instead they’re destroying infrastructure and killing random people? You are more valuable to the government as a living, breathing, financially solvent taxpayer than a hurricane victim. What is so hard to understand about this?

@4: You can’t expect conspiracy theorists to have reasoned through their theories. The whole point of conspiracy thinking is that you don’t need to exercise reason, you just instinctively know. You see the same thing with those people who think some combination of AIPAC/Israel/The Jews control the United States government. Well, why doesn’t our supposedly Zionist Occupied Government bomb Hamas? There’s no point in asking, because the only answer is more conspiracy theories! 😃

"You are more valuable to the government as a living, breathing, financially solvent taxpayer than a hurricane victim. What is so hard to understand about this?"

Limbaugh
Murdoch
Gingrich
& now
MUX.*

they're Domionizing the Planet
& weaponizing our Humanity
so that a very very Very teeny
tiny Small faction might
Kontrol the Planet &
they are VERY VERY
Good at getting
their insidious
Message
across.

thee Best
Propaganda
is totes INVISIBLE to a
Population otherwise preoccupied.
and just Look at how Far we've Come

or
Fallen.

*not to Mention:
Wholly-CORPORATE-
Owned Mass fucking Media

4: Yes, and we all are in a desperate quest to "control the weather" by limiting carbon emissions so we all don't burn up.

I must resuscitate my 2016-2021 request that Slog not post pictures of his stupid orange clown face, stupid clown bleached combover pompadour, and stupid clown outfit.

Conversely, thank you for excluding I/P from the roundup this morning.

@5 thumpus: “The whole point of conspiracy thinking is that you don’t need to exercise reason, you just instinctively know”

@6 Kristofarian, less than 1 minute later: “they're Domionizing the Planet & weaponizing our Humanity so that a very very Very teeny tiny Small faction might Kontrol the Planet & they are VERY VERY Good at getting their insidious Message across. thee Best Propaganda is totes INVISIBLE to a Population otherwise preoccupied.”

Ha ha ha, the timing on that could not have been more perfect! 🤣🤣🤣

Steps grind? You should try the Boston St. steps off Lakeview. After a couple of trips up them, you'll give up counting your steps.

@3, I think Trump quit using the Stones' music at his rallies after receiving a cease'n'desist letter from the band. His campaign must have a filing cabinet full of those at this point.

I'm not a Sawant hater, but what she said in Michigan was fucking stupid. So I watched Rich's defense of it, which was even stupider. I hope he didn't hurt himself getting all twisted and salty with his pretzel logic.

“For any of you ready to complain about Sawant supporting someone other than Vice President Kamala Harris for President”

Supporting anyone else besides Harris in a place like Michigan is supporting Donald Trump, no matter how you try to spin it. Getting Trump elected will see the genocide of the Palestinians that you’re supposedly so concerned about.

I wish whoever controled the weather would bring Raindrop back. He was the droplet around which coalesced your vitriol, which was always amusing and a distraction from your drab, wretched lives.

@1 PNWZebra and @3 mike blob: What do you expect from a mentally unhinged, self-serving convicted felon and global terrorist madly in love with Vladimir Putin? And whose rabid RepubliKKKan fan base solely consists of fellow white collar criminals, easily misled MAGA morons, violent thugs, and right-wing nut jobs?

@8 Max Solomon: +1 For the WIN!!! Agreed and seconded.

@13, He’s still here if you know where to look.

@13: Raindrop is still here, Swifty, and senselessly trolling as usual. He likes to go by NotMyopic and / or Ron and Nancy.

@10 Around half of the playlist at his rallies are songs where he's ignoring a cease and desist letter. Maybe he follows the Stones one because they can afford better lawyers?

@16 NotMyopic is the reincarnation of Ahab.

@15 barth: BINGO. And thank you for beating me to it.

Hard pass on Kshama Sawant and Jill Stein. I don't give a fuck how good the margaritas are.
A vote for either one is a tragic waste, and only another highly publicized vote for Trump.
Anyone who STILL doesn't get that after eight years deserves to get his or her right to cast a ballot
permanently yanked.

@17 boatgeek: (re: the reincarnation of raindrop): Thank you for the clarification. I wondered what happened to Ahab. NotMyopic's Energizer Bunny word salad run-ons have, at times, sounded a lot like ol' rainy to me, though.

Supporting Jill Stein is the Progressive Left arranging their firing squad in a circle.

They shoot their own anti-Trump cause.

Four more years of him may be the end of the Republic.

@5 It's a terrible analogy because AIPAC is de facto allied with GOP billionaires to buy elections to defeat progressives opposed to Israel's colonialism, and Biden declares to be a Zionist despite his pro-Israel policies being widely thought to be detrimental to US interests among several other salient examples, so, "AIPAC controls government" has some objective basis in reality unlike "government fabricates hurricane to kill people". I understand that you'll declare any criticism of Israel is a conspiracy theory but don't go overboard or it'll be too obvious.

Stein is only capitalizing on Harris' self-own regarding Palestine, just like Trump is benefiting from Democrats' insistence that the economy is great when so many can't make ends meet

@5 thumpus: “Conspiracy theories are dumb and no one should believe them.”

@21 averagebob: “My conspiracy theory is true! It was the Jews all along!!!”

thumpus the thug has nothing but slander to defend the indefensible

"your drab, wretched lives."

At least we don't spend half our lives stuck in jams on 405 and the other half in front of FOX (or it equivalent)

@21 now please elaborate on your theories about banking and the media it's really fascinating stuff

@26 Do you have a factual rebuttal addressing AIPAC buying elections and otherwise funding many congress critters? What about Biden declaring he is a Zionist while conducting pro-Israel policies that are widely thought to be detrimental to our interests?

I didn't think so. Also note I didn't say that Israel "controlled the USA", although it clearly influences policies.

As for your innuendos, my thoughts about banks and media don't especially involve Jews.

@11 I don't see how Rich's logic is twisted. He points out that if Harris were to be more even handed regarding Palestine, Stein wouldn't be a special threat in MI that has a large Muslim population, which seems to be confirmed by polling and much investigating. Rich also says that without some people making such a big deal about Sawant's speech almost nobody would have heard of it beside the people attending that rally, i.e. the already converted. What else?

I'm reading this comment @22 by averagebob: "Stein is only capitalizing on Harris' self-own regarding Palestine, just like Trump is benefiting from Democrats' insistence that the economy is great when so many can't make ends meet". And to me, this is a bit of a tell.

I'm reminded of a comment the same averagebob wrote last week: "@13 Their mindset is a rightwing one and many appear to be here to push back against the Stranger writers views, i.e. to wage some kind of propaganda war. Many are likely political junkies but also note that paid commenters in news media comment pages is a much more common practice than one would expect. I am not pointing at anyone in particular but The Stranger would be a logical target of such effort considering its positioning in the media spectrum (or lack thereof) so it's worthwhile to be aware."

https://www.thestranger.com/slog-am/2024/10/10/79732961/slog-am-big-newsoffering-housing-helps-end-homelessness-scarecrow-saved-for-two-years-hurricane-milton-makes-landfall/comments/18

Paid commenters in news comment sections, you don't say? Perhaps it takes one to know one?

My hypothesis is that averagebob is a getting paid by the comment by some shadowy right-wing organization to present the most unappealing caricature of a doctrinaire progressive and to provide oxygen for the right-wingers and for the Middle East rabbit hole on these threads. Of course, who knows? But this would explain why averagebob emerged fully formed only in (what was it?) May of this year. It would also suggest that we are likely to no longer be graced by averagebob's presence after November 5.

Enjoy the disinformation campaign while you can. Hey, who am I to question the motives of any other anonymous commenters?

@27: COME HERE, BOB! I’M GOING TO TICKLE YOU WITH MY BIG SOFT FURRY PAWS!

“Rich tell you why that's dumb. [Eds note: To be clear, he also thinks it's dumb for Sawant to support Stein.]”

Sawant made it clear at that Michigan rally appearance that Jill cannot win (be that Michigan or any other state) - victory for Sawant is another Trump presidency (simple logic being if it ain’t Harris and it ain’t Stein, then who’s left - only Trump).

The TS could call out Comrade Sawant on this BS but they won’t (they’ll simply put out factually inaccurate crap like Rich’s Insta post). At least Rich kept his spin off of the cesspool that is zombie twitter.

Fuck Sawant - Fuck Jill Stein

"Rich also says that without some people making such a big deal about Sawant's speech almost nobody would have heard of it beside the people attending that rally, i.e. the already converted."

So, she's totally ineffectual as a political leader? Years and years of commenters pointing this out to the Stranger, complete with examples (SHOWBOX!!), utterly failed to move that needle. Once Sawant started talking about "punishing" VP Harris by preventing her election, thus re-electing Trump, the Stranger finally figured out that no one should be listening to her. Glad to see you finally agree with your commenters.

@12 I agree that not voting for Harris in Michigan helps Trump; however, I suspect that people not voting for Harris would say that genocide is already happening in Palestine and that it's unclear how Trump could make it worse.

Trump is much worse in many other ways like regarding governance and oligarchy, climate change, the rights of racial, sexual and ethnic minorities, inequality, etc .. so objectively even staunch pro-Palestinians should vote against Trump , and most will vote against Trump but condoning genocide is a very big deal. The people closest to Palestinians have a very hard time getting over it and vote for Harris. It shouldn't surprise us.

@29 You have not commented about anything else but me in how many weeks now? or is it months? Are you in love with me, Cressona?

So, your new thing is since I mentioned paid commenters on social media, I must be one of them? what a genius you are.

@21 averagebob: "'AIPAC controls government' has some objective basis in reality"

@27 averagebob: "Also note I didn't say that Israel 'controlled the USA', although it clearly influences policies."

Ha ha ha, it's motte-and-bailey anti-semitism! 😂

Current Repugnican City Attorney Ann Davison is voting for Dumbp, right? Why aren't the folks freaking out about Sawant freaking out about Davison? Probably because they voted for Davison!

34: “… that it's unclear how Trump could make it worse.”

Oh, come now, you do make cogent arguments here (although I don’t agree with you much of the time). You honestly think he’s not going to give his good friend Bibi even more of a free pass? Do you honestly see something like today’s letter from the Biden Administration about allowing more aid into Gaza ever coming from Trump?

This is like arguing Trump vs. Clinton all over again. Did we all collectively forget 2017-2021?

@36 I don't see the contradiction and you are intellectually lazy. There is some objective basis for saying it although it is not what I would say

The part you "forgot" to discuss is how you claimed it was logically the same as "government makes hurricanes to kill people". Laughably stupid.

38, I’ve seen people on both sides of Israel-Gaza argue that Trump could be better for Palestine because he’s unpredictable and favor-seeking and could pivot to a more aggressive stance towards Israel if the calculus changes. I think this is bananas but it’s indisputable that he is a skilled con artist who will say anything because he stands for nothing, and if it’s the right message for the right audience at the right time, they might actually believe him.

@37 Nobody is "freaking out" that Sawant is voting for Trump, which by her own account she isn't. They're pointing out that Sawant is in the swing state of Michigan campaigning for a spoiler candidate and openly saying this is an effort to sabotage Harris' campaign in order to "punish" her. If Davison were to do that, the Stranger would waste no time reporting on it.

The reason they don't report on their special favorite progressive champion Sawant crowing about she's rat-fucking the Harris campaign is because it is embarrassing to them that they have carried water for this nutter for over a decade now, and now she is actively campaigning to elect Trump. So instead of saying she's dumb for doing that, or that they were dumb to endorse her and repeatedly defend her, Rich Smith is telling readers they're dumb for caring.

In a week where Donald Trump talked about using the military on those he considers his internal enemies, his former Defense Secretary said he wasn't joking, and and where his rally rhetoric is now just nakedly xenophobic and racist (they're bringing in immigrants to commit crimes against white people), paying ANY ATTENTION to the Jill Stein's of the world isn't just dumb and self-defeating, it's dangerous. If we have an election again with two run of the mill corporate center-right and center-left candidates again, feel free to explore third parties, but this is not the one where we have an openly aspiring autocrat consolidating a powerbase and cracking away at any guardrails to stop him.

@38 "You honestly think he’s not going to give his good friend Bibi even more of a free pass? "

He will, as he already said but if one thinks that Bibi is already getting everything he needs (weapons, intelligence, diplomatic cover) as many pro-Palestinians do, he doesn't need more of a free reign. In fact, having the bull in the China shop Trump declare to the world that Bibi should "finish the job" as Bibi tries to expulse/kill more Gazans could well result into greater isolation on the international stage and trigger forthcoming arrest warrant in front of the ICC. Having a friendly US government that also tries to keep up appearances of balance with words and letters has its value for Israel and the US. Many neocons oppose Trump not because they don't appreciate his belligerence but because our allies also need to manage their public opinion (as we do) and to maintain the appearance of supporting international order. Anyway, I am only saying that the preceding arguments should not be dismissed outright because I am not really sure what to think.

@19 Raindrop is distinguishable by ineffectual appeals for common decency and an end to profanity. Ahab is easy to spot by his rambling spiels about mens rea and whether it's possible to ever hold any war criminal to account. (Hint: no, unless they record themselves saying "I am war criming right now and I mean to do it!")

@41 What's even more amazing is that her former party (Socialist Alternative) even came out and stated her views do not align with theirs and that her comments should not way be construed to represent Social Alternative. Even with the socialists now washing their hands of her Rich can't crawl out of her butt long enough to see the sun and realize what a tool he has been all these years for supporting her. Of course TS is going right down the same road by support Shaun Scott in the 43rd who will attempt to enact many of her awful policies on the rest of the state. Rinse and repeat.

I hope someone asks Jill Stein about her endorsement from KKK grand wizard David Duke. https://democrats.org/news/former-kkk-leader-david-duke-endorses-jill-stein/

Never mind Trump
6 short months from now, JD Vance could be President, and Peter Thiel and Elon Musk will be in charge, making the USA safe for the tech bros.

@13 -- ah
channeling your
Inner birchsteen I Like that
but dewey could be a Royal pita
disingenuous to a fucking fine fault

more fractious than the day is long
with a surprisingly dull ax to grind
contentious just to be contentious
& purveyor of Big Words apropos
or otherwise ten-dollar wordiness
for a two-bit dog & pony show
where you're just as likely to
Get bit or kicked Upside
de headbone for your
Heartfelt troubles

an imitator
of Wormtongue tho
vastl;y less skilled with a most
Viscious Case of the dunning/krogers

likely incurable ~ & with a PHuD in
Human Psychology yet somehow
Never in possession of a mirror
(possible vampire warning)

I miss 'em Both.
well, one more
Oodles more
than the
other.

@47

that's a Fucking BINGO &
on Day Two it's JRR Vancelot atop
the gilded Throne* with eltrumpfster sailing off
scot-fucking free with a Pension that'd make a pharaoh blush

and then
VD Dancelot'll
get Down-To-Business
separating the Wheats from
the chaffs riff raffs and democrat
communiss socialistics & trades unionists

look for God to make an Appearance
possibly around Armageddon but
it'll all be Up to the Networks.

oh and fuck off thumpfy.
your trolling lame your
lols're Brilliant keep
'em up too!

@44, The track record of International Courts has proven Ahab to be correct. They haven't ended a single conflict with a ruling or saved a single-life.

The isolated cases of holding a very SELECT FEW on the losing side of overwhelming military force, but never the winning side, are the exceptions that prove the rule.

The U.N. writes reports, but never initiates cases. Why is that? If their reports have such overwhelming evidence, that can prevail in an international court, why not bring it?

Article 51 of the U.N. Charter is a defense. So is the fact that Hamas and Hezbollah are putting command and control and ammunition storage under and in civilian structures, making them military structures under International Law.

Hell, even South Africa appears to have thrown up their hands and sent their lawyers home.

A vote for Jill Stein is a vote for Trump. Even worse, a vote for Jill Stein is a vote for Jill Stein.

In Nevada, Stein’s campaign was represented by Jay Sekulow, a conservative lawyer who represented Trump in his first impeachment trial. In Wisconsin, Stein’s campaign was represented by Michael Dean, a conservative lawyer who regularly works with Republicans. Her campaign has also hired Accelevate, a political consulting group that’s previously worked with Republicans.

“Kamala Harris deserves to lose 1,000 times over,” Sawant said

Sawant, a leftist force on the City Council for a decade, admitted the obvious — that Stein has no chance to win.

Sawant called the state “ground zero to punish Kamala Harris and defeat her.”

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/at-seattle-rally-sawant-says-harris-deserves-to-lose-1000-times/

Fuck Rich and his ridiculous take - fuck Sawant

@50: “[International courts] haven't ended a single conflict with a ruling or saved a single-life.”

lol, international court rulings have ended dozens and dozens of conflicts. The ICJ even publishes an index of “contentious cases,” apparently to refute poorly-read internet lawyers who think the court’s work has no real-world impact 😄:

https://www.icj-cij.org/contentious-cases

@50: “even South Africa appears to have thrown up their hands and sent their lawyers home.”

Ha ha, no. In reality, more and more other countries keep joining South Africa’s suit.

@55, None of those rulings ended a war where non-combatants were getting killed. So not a single life saved. No war crimes stopped with the stroke of a pen.

It lists a bunch of rulings where the parties had decided the cost of a war was higher than the outcome they could get from a negotiated or arbitratred settlement.

Wars happen when a party, or parties, want an outcome unobtainable by negotiation or arbitration and the cost of a war, and the risk of lossing one, is worth the potential prize.

International Courts have not saved a single noncombat life by ruling a war unlawful, or that means undertaken in the war was unlawful.

That is the case here. Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, and Israel all want something that the other party won't agree to, and won't accept an arbitrated outcome that gives the other party what they want.

@55: Ha ha, next time consider spending more than an hour reading a few of these multi-hundred-page before you opine on their contents!

In “Armed Activities on the Territory of the Congo,” Uganda paused its military deployments to Congo in response to the ICJ’s preliminary measures, later withdraw its forces altogether, entered negotiations with Congo over reparations at the order of the ICJ, and has now begun to pay reparations. This is in the context of the Second Congo War, which killed over 5 million people, so knocking out one of the major belligerents is no small accomplishment in terms of saving human lives.

I’m not sure where you got this notion that international courts don’t save lives, but that notion is not based on any reading of the courts’ orders and judgments nor on any familiarity with military history. You’re like the mirror-image of Average Bob with this stuff, lol! 😄

@41 In 2020--the last presidential year--Ann Davison was featured in a nationwide campaign as a disaffected Democrat so fed up with her party that she became a Repugnican. So, yes, Davison essentially did what Sawant is doing now: trying to influence folks to vote for Dumbp.

@57 — and if The Stranger had written article after article about how Ann Davison was awesome and anyone who criticized her for any reason was terrible, then we’d be just as critical of them for rabbit-holing her heel turn like they have with Sawant. Davison is a one term fluke who lucked into her seat because of the toxicity of her opponent. Sawant is who The Stranger has said repeatedly all other candidates for office should model. So now that it’s clear that Sawant is a huge liar and would prefer Trump — which would be devastating to all of the policies she has pretended to care about for all these years — it’s entirely appropriate to point out her hypocrisy and privilege. But The Stranger won’t do that.

The fact that The Stranger is deflecting rather than criticizing Sawant shows that they too would prefer Trump. It’s utterly disqualifying and offensive to all of those who have stood steadfast against Trump for the last 8 years in the face of his degeneracy. Sawant should be ashamed, and so too should The Stranger.

I love how the the chorus here rail about the most ineffectual politician ever and in the same paragraph discuss how she is about to destroy democracy in the USA (re: sawant). What is it, is she a fellow traveler or a evil genius?

Old Lady 1: 'The food here is so awful'.
Old Lady 2: 'Yes, and the portions are too small.'

AIPAC: their job is to lobby for Israel. Do they control Washington? Not really. Does money? Yes. Does AIPAC have and use money? Follow it. Can't blame them any more than one would blame Putin for using social media against low information US voters. It's a feature of the system.

@57: Citation needed.

Even if Davison did what you said, she was a private citizen when she did it, and if it was a national campaign, she may or may not have mentioned Trump.

By contrast, Sawant trades upon her reputation as a Seattle City Council Member, goes to a swing state, and openly works to defeat VP Harris, knowing only Trump can benefit. And the only response from the Stranger is to tell everyone to shut up about it.

Enjoy your status as a Sawant supporter.

@59: There’s no conflict between noting CM Sawant’s thin record of accomplishment in Seattle (residential rent control, saving the Showbox), and criticizing her effort to get Trump elected.

She was a failure at advancing the agenda she claimed to support, and she’s now actively working against that agenda — and the agenda of any decent citizen, as well — without a peep of protest from the Stranger, the Stranger’s supportive commenters, or anyone else who ever told us voters in Seattle about how great she was.

All we — her supporters and her critics — can do now is hope she’s as useless in getting Trump elected as she was in advancing her agenda in Seattle.

@60 Actually Ann Davison was running for Lt. Governor at the time as a Republican. This followed her failed race for city council as a Dem.

This is one link I found about Davison trying to encourage Dems to become Repugs:
https://shiftwa.org/its-time-for-me-to-leave-the-democratic-party/

There was a 2020 YouTube interview with a some despicable neanderthal which I can't locate. Trust me, Davison was all in on Dumbp. Probably still is. The Stranger should ask her who she's voting for in 2024.

Sorry, my 62 comment was in answer to 58, not 60.

Of course the MAGAts want people to believe that “they” control the weather. We all know who “they” are, and our current crop of rightwingers would much rather “deal with” the Jews than actually do anything about fossil fuel consumption.

@62: Shift WA is the best you've got? Srsly?

So, Davison was not part of a national campaign, she wasn't an office-holder or ex-office-holder at the time she mouthed off to tiny little irrelevant Shift WA, and voting for Trump in WA won't do anything to get him elected President. Other than that, you're spot-on with your analogy to Sawant, who stated flatly she's doing this to "punish" Harris, and to deny Harris the Oval Office. (Sisterhood, powerful, etc.)

Best of all, hating on local Democrats was Sawant's stock-in-trade for over ten years, and suddenly when Davison did it, THEN you had a problem with it? Priceless.

@65 As I said, there was also a YouTube interview back in 2020 with some nationally known crazy Trumpist that I can't locate.

I suppose that I'm just baffled by all the hullabaloo over Sawant campaigning against the Dems. We've always known she's not a Democrat; she's an ardent DSA. DSA folks hate Dems. She campaigned against Hillary in 2016 and we re-elected her once after that and we saved her from recall another time. Yet everyone acts "shocked," Casablanca-style! It's kind of funny.

I voted for Clinton, Biden and will happily vote for Kamala, but Sawant is entitled to her crazy antics. If Harris loses, it won't be because of Sawant. It will be because of recent inflation. But I'd still like to know if our "law and order" city attorney is going to vote for the felon! Aren't you the least bit curious?

@66: "I suppose that I'm just baffled by all the hullabaloo over Sawant campaigning against the Dems."

You really just can't understand the difference between campaigning "against the Dems" in Seattle, where the choice is Dems or Socialists, and her campaigning now in Michigan, where the choice is between a Democratic or Republican PRESIDENT? Trump could destroy everything Sawant and Seattle ever claimed to care about, but this seems not to bother you in the slightest. I guess you're so habituated to swallowing her lies, her now telling you she never really cared about anything you voted for also doesn't bother you in the least.

"She campaigned against Hillary in 2016..."

And her supporters have lied about that ever since, doggedly sticking to the fiction Stein had a chance.

"If Harris loses, it won't be because of Sawant."

Nope, not in your world. Even if Harris loses Michigan to Trump by one vote, and then a dozen voters come forward to say Sawant convinced them to vote for Stein instead of Harris, you will still insist Sawant had nothing to do with Trump II: Revenge Boogaloo.

I think it's great Sawant's supporters are now arguing that she's completely ineffectual at her chosen political mission. We her critics spent most of a decade telling you that, but you wouldn't listen when it mattered. I happily accept your final vindication of our criticism of her, though.

'But I'd still like to know if our "law and order" city attorney is going to vote for the felon!'

Because when you can't defend your champion, and you know it, you attack someone else. (Why, it's almost like you believe no one has ever tried that before...)

"Aren't you the least bit curious?"

One vote in the state of Washington will have absolutely no effect on the US Presidential race. So no, I couldn't possibly care less how Davison votes. I have no doubt you'll be desperately trying to make everyone else care, though, should Sawant take a loud victory lap for Trump II.

@67 Yeah, you still don't seem to understand Sawant after all these years. She is a Trotskyist and would like to bring down the U.S. "capitalist regime." She's never lied about that or claimed to be a "normie" Democrat. She wants Harris to lose because she sees obviously this as a step toward the eventual overthrow of capitalism with the chaos Dumbp would unleash. Your appeals for her to stop campaigning in Michigan are bootless. I'm not quite sure what you arguing...? None of us here can convince her and it's her right to campaign anywhere she wants to. Free speech, mind you.

I repeat: if Michigan votes for Dumbp, "it's the economy, stupid." These presidential elections are always about the state of the economy, in the end. It's Harris's biggest weakness--and it's not even Kamala's fault.

By the way, we should be happy that Sawant is only urging a third party vote and not encouraging disaffected folks to directly vote for Dumbp. That would really hurt Kamala.

But, yeah, I definitely want to know how Ann Davison votes. If she is voting for Kamala or third party, I will have respect for her. Some of my favorite folks these days are Never Trump Republicans.

@68: I understand perfectly well, and have for years; Socialist Alternative is a Trotskyist cult. Here's what they have to say about her campaigning for Trump:

'Trump winning is not punishment for the Democrats, it’s punishment for millions of working and oppressed people in the US and around the world. It would be nothing to celebrate, just as a continuation of the full support by Biden/Harris for Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza is nothing to celebrate. We should also be clear that both parties are united in their drive towards a wider conflict between US and Chinese imperialism.

'Socialist Alternative wholly disagrees with Sawant’s new approach, and given her past affiliation with our organization, we feel the need to clarify this. We are strong opponents of the Democrats, but it is genuinely shocking to hear that Sawant thinks it would be a “historic” victory for Kamala Harris to lose this election to Trump.' (https://www.socialistalternative.org/2024/10/14/the-case-for-voting-jill-stein-in-the-trump-era/)

See? Free speech, used to describe exactly what is wrong with Sawant campaigning for Trump. Somehow, they found a way to criticize her, while you still haven't. That's the issue here, your refusal to use your free speech to criticize her for trying to inflict Trump upon the world, yet again.

'I repeat: if Michigan votes for Dumbp, "it's the economy, stupid."'

And I repeat: you'll simply reject any and all evidence showing Sawant had a decisive effect. Again, thank you for validating criticism of Sawant as utterly ineffective at accomplishing her stated political goals.

"By the way, we should be happy that Sawant is only urging a third party vote and not encouraging disaffected folks to directly vote for Dumbp."

I love how you flipped immediately from claiming Sawant will have no real effect, to claiming she could easily convince persons who might vote for Harris to vote for Trump. (How, exactly, would Sawant convince Democratic-leaning voters to go for Trump instead -- by recounting her own long history of ceaseless hatred for the Democrats?)

"But, yeah, I definitely want to know how Ann Davison votes."

Then I suggest you ask her. I somehow doubt posting your interest in a forum she likely never reads will get you anywhere.

@69 I do disagree with Sawant on this, but so what? There is no politician with whom I agree on everything. Were I an elected official, I know that I wouldn't agree with my own positions 100% of the time!

What I recall about third parties from the one political science class I took years ago is that folks who vote for them probably would not have voted. It is incorrect to assume that people who vote Green would probably vote for the Democrat if they didn't have the Green option. Their votes "don't count," but they prefer that to the binary choice. That's fine. Stupid, but fine. Much more dangerous to Harris than Sawant--an out-of-town character--is the Muslim Democratic mayor of the Muslim majority Michigan city of Hamtramck who endorsed Dumbp and urged his fellow citizens and Muslims to vote for Dumbp, not Jill Stein. You deny it but, mathematically, direct votes for Dumbp are far more a threat to a Harris victory than third party votes.

@70: Sawant has explicitly said Stein cannot win, and Sawant’s stated purpose in going to Michigan is to deny Harris the presidency, to “punish” her. Sawant is therefore campaigning for Trump. She’s using her status as a former Council Member in Seattle — an office you kept her in for as long as possible — as credibility for her effort. That’s her thanks to you for your keeping her in office, and you don’t even have the self-respect to get offended.

I see your pre-emptive reasons for Sawant not being responsible for a possible Trump victory continue to expand. Now it’s another local elected official. Yes, that could contribute to Trump’s election as well, but the point here is Sawant doing it. Trump will do everything he can to destroy everything she ever claimed to support, and Sawant’s helping him to realize this destruction. Again, your lack of caring simply astounds. Why did you even bother to vote for her in the first place?

Wow, around in circles we go! I've addressed all these matters. Take care!

@72: "I've addressed all these matters."

Except, of course, why Sawant campaigning for Trump doesn't bother you in the slightest.