(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . GNR for Friday, Sept 6, 2024: We're Not Going Back - now DO SOMETHING [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-09-06 Welcome 🌻 to Friday’s Roundup of Good News! So many people who don’t want tRump to win! All team blue! Many in team red! Liz Cheney! Jimmy McCain! Lots of generals! Of course, there are those who truly do want tRump to win. Lots of racists, misogynists, the misinformed, some greedy bastards, and global bad actors: putin, Netanyahu, Orban, and more. That means we have work to do. We have more people, but there’s also the Electoral College, which works against us. And dark forces. So: what are you doing? Especially new ideas! Because I was talking to a friend last night and we were trying to come up with new stuff that would be more effective. Less than two months remain until the election! Come on in, get fortified for the day, and then go out and do something. We’re not going back! Regular Scheduled Programming No one here is naïve; we are aware of the many who are fighting to destroy our country. Some of us expected it: the cheating, the lying, the chaos, and yes, even the attempts to cling to power despite the clear will of the people. But we are here to read the efforts and the positive results of those (including us and our fellow gnus) who are working so hard to save our country from those very bad people. We are furious with them for what they are doing and we are letting them know. Remember: 💙 There are more of us than there are of them. 💛 They are terrified when we organize. THERE IS LOTS OF EVIDENCE THAT THEY ARE TERRIFIED! 💔 They want us to be demoralized. The best way to keep up your spirits is to fight. So, take the time to recharge your batteries, but find ways to contribute to the well-being of our country and our world. 🗽 Biden as President ! Harris as Vice President! 🗽 Biden, Harris and their administration have been hard at work. Here are the last week’s posts at the White House briefing room. 👎 Out with the Bad, In with the Good 👍 👎 Justice department indicts some Russian assets DOJ Press release An indictment charging Russian nationals Kostiantyn Kalashnikov, 31, also known as Kostya, and Elena Afanasyeva, 27, also known as Lena, with conspiracy to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) and conspiracy to commit money laundering was unsealed today in the Southern District of New York. Kalashnikov and Afanasyeva are at large. “The Justice Department has charged two employees of RT, a Russian state-controlled media outlet, in a $10 million scheme to create and distribute content to U.S. audiences with hidden Russian government messaging,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “The Justice Department will not tolerate attempts by an authoritarian regime to exploit our country’s free exchange of ideas in order to covertly further its own propaganda efforts, and our investigation into this matter remains ongoing.” “Our approach to combating foreign malign influence is actor-driven, exposing the hidden hand of adversaries pulling strings of influence from behind the curtain," said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. “As alleged in today’s indictment, Russian state broadcaster RT and its employees, including the charged defendants, co-opted online commentators by funneling them nearly $10 million to pump pro-Russia propaganda and disinformation across social media to U.S. audiences. The Department will not tolerate foreign efforts to illegally manipulate American public opinion by sowing discord and division.” “Covert attempts to sow division and trick Americans into unwittingly consuming foreign propaganda represents attacks on our democracy,” said FBI Director Christopher A. Wray. “Today’s actions show that as long as foreign adversaries like Russia keep engaging in hostile influence campaigns, they are going to keep running into the FBI. We will continue to do everything we can to expose the hidden hand of foreign adversaries like Russia and disrupt their efforts to meddle in our free and open society.” “The Russian government has long sought to sow discord and chaos in the United States through propaganda and foreign malign influence campaigns,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “As alleged, the covert operations by RT employees exploited our free and open press and targeted millions of Americans as unwitting victims of Russia’s psychological warfare.” “As alleged, the Russian state broadcaster RT orchestrated a massive scheme to influence the American public by secretly planting and financing a content creation company on U.S. soil,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams for the Southern District of New York. “The instruments of the scheme were RT employees Kostiantyn Kalashnikov and Elena Afanasyeva, who managed the operation from Moscow using fake personas and shell companies, and the victims of the scheme were the American people, who received Russian messaging without knowing it. As the charges unsealed today demonstrate, this Office will work with our law enforcement partners to unmask and hold accountable all those who conduct malign influence campaigns in the United States, no matter how hard they try to hide their tracks.” According to the court documents, RT, formerly known as Russia Today, is a state-controlled media outlet funded and directed by the Government of Russia. Over at least the past year, RT and its employees, including Kalashnikov and Afanasyeva, deployed nearly $10 million to covertly finance and direct a Tennessee-based online content creation company (U.S. Company-1). In turn, U.S. Company-1 published English-language videos on multiple social media channels, including TikTok, Instagram, X, and YouTube. Since publicly launching in or about November 2023, U.S. Company-1 has posted nearly 2,000 videos that have garnered more than 16 million views on YouTube alone. Many of the videos posted by U.S. Company-1 contain commentary on events and issues in the U.S., such as immigration, inflation, and other topics related to domestic and foreign policy. While the views expressed in the videos are not uniform, most are directed to the publicly stated goals of the Government of Russia and RT — to amplify domestic divisions in the United States. Without a doubt this DOJ indictment that shows how Russia allegedly funneled millions of dollars into the hands of MAGA influencers to divide America is the very tippy top of the iceberg. It all makes much more sense when you realize all the MAGA nonsense is a foreign op. x Without a doubt this DOJ indictment that shows how Russia allegedly funneled millions of dollars into the hands of MAGA influencers to divide America is the very tippy top of the iceberg. It all makes much more sense when you realize all the MAGA nonsense is a foreign op. — Brett Meiselas 🇺🇸🦅 (@BMeiselas) September 4, 2024 Like Brazil down below, the US is fighting the lies. And there’s a link in this xweet to the affidavit: x Finally finished reading the Doppelgänger affidavit. Read it. It’s only 69 pages. The rest are attachment and exhibits. Learn how the Russians cyber squatted on 60 domains made to look like legit media corporations to trick Americans into supporting Trump. https://t.co/19Qic46SOl — Mueller, She Wrote (@MuellerSheWrote) September 5, 2024 👍 Statement by President Biden on wind power Press Release When I came into office, the United States had zero approved offshore wind projects in federal waters, and the industry was struggling to gain a foothold. But now, following my Administration’s investments in our clean energy future, the private sector has mobilized and the federal government has approved ten offshore wind projects – enough to power more than five million homes and equivalent to half of the capacity needed to achieve our goal of 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030. From manufacturing and shipbuilding to port operations and construction, this industry will support tens of thousands of good-paying and union jobs, provide reliable clean power to homes and businesses, strengthen our power grid against outages, and help reduce pollution – all while protecting biodiversity and marine ecosystems. We will continue to partner with industry, Tribes, ocean users, and other stakeholders to support supply chains that are Made in America, incentivize union-built projects, and continue seizing opportunities for additional clean energy technologies. Note that tRump really, really hates wind power. 👎 J6 Gala fundraiser by tRump postponed indefinitely Lauren Irwin The Hill A fundraising event for defendants of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol scheduled to take place at former President Trump’s golf club in New Jersey this week has been postponed indefinitely. The “J6 Awards Gala,” hosted by nonprofit Stand in the Gap, was planned for Thursday at Trump’s Bedminster, N.J. golf club. According to the event’s website, the date has been “postponed” and the location and time are to be announced. , event organizer L.J. Fino said the event was postponed due to “scheduling conflicts of invited guest speakers.” In an August statement to Fox Business , event organizer L.J. Fino said the event was postponed due to “scheduling conflicts of invited guest speakers.” The event invited Trump to speak, though he was not expected to attend. Rudy Giuliani, former New York mayor and Trump attorney who has dealt with his own legal battles regarding the 2020 presidential election, was confirmed to speak at the event. I bet there was a lack of interest on the part of donors. Or the speakers just want the money to go to them, and not to the J6 criminals. NOTE that should be seen by the potential next J6 wannabes: you won’t get anything either! 💣 Republicans: Party of Crimes and Chaos 💣 the GOP’s anti-Biden crusade sinks into irrelevance Zachary Basu Axios In a parallel universe, the GOP's years-long efforts to expose alleged corruption by the Biden family would be peaking at the ideal moment: Hunter Biden's federal tax trial begins today in California. And in D.C., House Republicans just issued a 291-page report accusing President Biden of impeachable conduct. With exactly two months to Election Day,federal tax trial begins today in California. And in D.C., House Republicans just issued aaccusing President Biden of impeachable conduct. Why it matters: Instead, with Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee, Donald Trump's crusade against "Crooked Joe" is collapsing into political irrelevance. It's one of many reasons Trump keeps wishing he was still running against Biden, whose family's foreign business dealings have been campaign fodder since 2019. Lots of people want tRump gone. Especially those in the Republican party Jonathan Martin, Politico The best possible outcome in November for the future of the Republican Party is for former President Donald Trump to lose and lose soundly. GOP leaders won’t tell you that on the record. I just did. Trump will never concede defeat, no matter how thorough his loss. Yet the more decisively Vice President Kamala Harris wins the popular vote and electoral college the less political oxygen he’ll have to reprise his 2020 antics; and, importantly, the faster Republicans can begin building a post-Trump party. ✂️ One high-level Republican, conceding it may only be “wishful thinking,” even floated the idea of a Harris victory followed by Biden pardons of both his son, Hunter, and Trump. That would take the issue of both cases off Harris’ plate and, more to the point, drain the energy behind Trump’s persecution complex so that Republicans can get on with the business of winning elections. Note they have SCOTUS and they hope to get back the Senate, so they could stymie most D projects. But they want tRump to be gone. Also, Biden should NOT pardon tRump. A criminal who took part in murder was let out by tRump. Now convicted in another crime Michael S Schmidt and Maggie Habermann New York Times A man whose life sentence in federal prison was commuted in 2021 by President Donald J. Trump was convicted this spring of a misdemeanor charge of assaulting his wife, the latest example of a Trump clemency beneficiary getting in legal trouble again. The man, Jaime A. Davidson, was sentenced in Florida to three months behind bars in the domestic violence case. Given the conviction, he could face additional time in federal prison if he is found to have violated the terms of his supervised release after Mr. Trump’s decision, in the final hours of his presidency, to commute Mr. Davidson’s earlier life sentence. Mr. Davidson was convicted of murder in 1993 on charges that he played a role in planning a robbery that led to the death of an undercover police officer in upstate New York. Mr. Davidson was not at the scene of the robbery, and he has repeatedly proclaimed his innocence and asserted that he was framed. The commutation was pushed by a lawyer for Mr. Davidson, and was not recommended by the Justice Department process for clemency applications. The lawyer, Bettina Schein, is married to Alan Futerfas, who has represented some of Mr. Trump’s children. Mr. Futerfas was not involved in Mr. Davidson’s clemency request. ⚡️ tRump campaign pulls out of NH, VA and MN Daily Kos We can hope this is true x BREAKING: Members of the House Republican caucus are openly admitting that Donald Trump’s electoral weakness is going to cost them control of the House. Republicans are in disarray. — Kamala’s Wins (@harris_wins) September 5, 2024 🚚 💙 Democrats Deliver 💙 🚚 Harris campaign shares 24.5 million with downballot races April Rubin Axios Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign is channeling some of its fundraising success toward down-ballot races that will be essential for the party to enact its agenda if she wins the White House, multiple outlets reported Tuesday. Why it matters: Both the presidential race between Harris and former President Trump as well as key down-ballot races for Democrats remain tight with months until Election Day. By the numbers: The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee will each receive $10 million, CNN reported. Compare this to the tRump campaign, where they demanded a percentage of the money raised by downballot candidates. Sometimes the banks see that Ds are better at economics: x Goldman Sachs predicts stronger GDP and job growth if Democrats sweep White House and Congress https://t.co/wfg0EtkvL2 — Ted Corcoran (RedTRaccoon) (@RedTRaccoon) September 4, 2024 I mean, they know. Nice to see them acknowledge it. 💜 Unity? 💜 Liz Cheney! I’m sure she made up her mind a while ago, but waited until after Labor Day to make her endorsement: x .@Liz_Cheney: As a conservative, as someone who believes in and cares about the Constitution, and because of the danger Donald Trump poses, I will be voting for Kamala Harris pic.twitter.com/7105j8xjYp — Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) September 5, 2024 Jimmy McCain, youngest son of John McCain, endorses Kamala Harris Natasha Bertrand CNN The youngest son of the late Sen. John McCain had already been moving away from the Republican Party — just weeks ago, he changed his voter registration to Democrat and plans to vote for Kamala Harris in November, he told CNN in an exclusive interview this week. But he is speaking out now for the first time about Trump because of the former president’s conduct at the hallowed ground where several generations of McCain’s family, including his grandfather and great grandfather, are buried. “It just blows me away,” McCain, who has served in the military for 17 years, told CNN. “These men and women that are laying in the ground there have no choice” of whether to be a backdrop for a political campaign, he said. 📥 Actions You Can Take 📤 Tax-exempt organization complaint referrals. 13909. You can fill this out for the NRA and lots of other organizations. How about if some of us white folk go into some of the MAGA churches and video record what they’re saying? Voting rights. This may be the biggest issue threatening our democracy right now. Besides contacting your representatives at the state and federal level to do the right thing (depending on who they are), you can support and contact these organizations: ACLU — American Civil Liberties Union Democracy Docket — founded by Marc Elias, so important in fighting the challenges after the last election. Fair Fight — founded by Stacey Abrams 🌱Grass roots. Biden and Harris can do the top-down stuff, but we have to support from the bottom. I don’t know how to deprogram 75 million people, but some things have been written about, such as deep canvassing, and lots of people are talking about this. If you know someone (who did not storm the Capitol), then see if you can be pleasant. Instead of trying to reason with them (logic is obviously not their strong point) distract them with something else. We need to remove the sources of lies and to take down the temperature. If we get more of the Rs to wear masks and to get vaccinated and to vote for Ds, the country will be a better place. We need to coax some of them out of the rabbit holes and diffuse the anger and the crazy. 🏃 Run for something. If you want to run for something, but have no idea what to do, these people will help you. They also like money and volunteers to help those people who are running, so even if you’re not in a position to stand for office, you can help. Note: they are especially planning to target the 57 Rs in local governments who participated in the insurrection. 👎 Defund the seditionists. Defund the seditionists. This is a list with companies that sometimes have donated to the seditionists. The list is long. You will recognize many of the corporations, and you probably have a relationship with some — either you are a customer, a shareholder, or maybe even an employee. Contact them and compliment or complain, but let them know you are watching. Forward it to others. 🔎 Want to check out what’s going on with campaign contributions? Check out this diary. 👀 🐍 Schadenfreude 😈 Fulton County — in Pennsylvania, not Georgia — has been ordered to pay 1 million in Dominion case. Courtney Cohn, Democracy Docket A state judge on Friday ordered Fulton County, Pennsylvania and its attorney to pay over $1 million in sanctions after improperly investigating Dominion Voting Systems machines after the 2020 election and violating an order from the state’s highest court. ✂️ Months later, in violation of the court order, Fulton County allowed a forensic auditing company to inspect the equipment and electronic evidence relevant to the case. Then, the secretary asked the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to impose sanctions against the county. The state’s highest court then ordered that the machines be impounded and that sanctions be imposed against both the county and its attorney Thomas Carroll because they violated a court order and they “have engaged in a sustained, deliberate pattern of dilatory, obdurate, and vexatious conduct and have acted in bad faith throughout these sanction proceedings.” Hope this works as a deterrent! 12,000 calls! Getting him out of the way should make things better, because he was surely one of the worst. x A New York man has been sentenced to 13 months in federal prison for making more than 12,000 harassing phone calls to congressional offices in recent years.@MacFarlaneNews reports on the "profound and prolific case": pic.twitter.com/Aaeb5vCT9K — CBS News (@CBSNews) September 3, 2024 Your reminder that Steve Bannon is still in prison: In the event that you’re having a bad day and could use some good news, may I remind you that as we speak, Sloppy Steve Bannon is rotting in a prison cell and on September 18th we’ll learn whether or not Donald Trump will have to spend time behind bars too. x In the event that you’re having a bad day and could use some good news, may I remind you that as we speak, Sloppy Steve Bannon is rotting in a prison cell and on September 18th we’ll learn whether or not Donald Trump will have to spend time behind bars too. — Jo (@JoJoFromJerz) September 3, 2024 📣 Let’s Honor Truth ☀️️ Today we’re going to honor the Supreme Court. No, not ours! The Brazilian Supreme Court. I know nothing about them in general, so maybe it’s not generally merited, but i’m awarding it because they are upholding the ban on X (here I won’t call it Twitter) because of the rampant disinformation. Troy Meidas Touch Network The high court of Brazil upheld a ban on X, formerly Twitter, in that country Tuesday over concerns about Elon Musk's social media platform's continued spread of disinformation. X will stay banned in Brazil until the company names a legal representative, which it failed to do by a Saturday deadline, and pays outstanding fines of more than $3 million. A five justice panel ruled unanimously to uphold the ban, which went into effect on Saturday. One of the justices, Flávio Dino, argued that "freedom of expression is closely linked to a duty of responsibility". ✂️ The court ordered Apple and Google to remove X from their app stores within Brazil, and announced that individuals and companies found using X through VPN's, which allows users to fake being located in a different country on their devices, would be assessed a daily fine of up to $50,000 Brazilian Reals, the equivalent of about $8,910. Brazil is one of the largest markets for X, with tens of millions of users. It was reported by AP that most Brazilians have began to use X's competitors Bluesky and Threads. I agree that the banning of something can go both ways. But here’s what the President of Brazil says: x (📣) The President of Brazil has issued a statement about Twitter: “The world isn’t obliged to put up with Elon Musk’s far-right free-for-all just because he is rich.” RETWEET if you agree. https://t.co/0LjrIoTBvi — Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) September 4, 2024 🌹 Let’s Celebrate Love ❤️ 🏀 Crowd Goes Silent so the blind player can hear the basket’s location by the tapping sound. Note if you cannot watch — the blind player gets it in!!!! x Crowd Goes Silent so the blind player can hear the basket’s location by the tapping sound. ❤️ 🎥 Goodable pic.twitter.com/1sp5fPHsuP — Restoring Your Faith in Humanity (@HumanityChad) September 2, 2024 📎 Odds & Ends 📎 Harris may be getting the foodie vote Ryan Teague Beckwith, MSNBC Political consultants would advise against displaying this level of familiarity with foodie culture. Democrats, in particular, are sensitive to accusations that they are on the "wine track," being tagged as elitist when they talk about fancy food. Presidential candidate Michael Dukakis suffered for suggesting Iowa farmers grow Belgian endive, while former President Barack Obama was slagged for complaining about the price of arugula at Whole Foods. But Harris might not just avoid taking a hit for being a foodie but also benefit from it. For one thing, America is far more foodie than it has been in past elections. The Food Network is one of the most-watched cable channels, while videos of influencers demonstrating different recipes and cooking techniques dominate YouTube, TikTok and Instagram. Celebrity chefs ranging from the workmanlike Bobby Flay to the hyperkinetic Guy Fieri are household names, while the V drama "The Bear" had viewers lusting for both the dishes and the chefs who make them. 🐦 I do a lot of other writing. A recent offering: the Crow Nickels (chronicles), a trilogy about crows who want to save birdkind from extinction: Hunters of the Feather, Scavengers of Mind and Familiars of the Flock (They’re really good! They’re really cheap! Buy and review or rate positively! And Hunters is also available on Audible!) Other stories, based on Jane Austen novels — such as The Meryton Murders — and others based on history and Greek mythology, such as Jocasta: The Mother-Wife of Oedipus, can be found here. All titles are available through Kindle Unlimited, but I only get paid if you turn the pages. 💙 What You Can Do to Rescue Democracy 💙 It turns out that participation in democracy is not just an every-four-years event but requires active participation, like, whenever you can find time. Current projects: Look in the comments for Progressive Muse’s report on Postcards to Voters And some other ideas: You can relax and recharge. You can join protests and freeway blog. You can help register new voters. You can smile. You can say something nice to friend or a stranger. You can get out the vote for special elections. You can reach out to upset Republicans. We need to win some back. You can share your ideas below. 🌻 💙 “Our history has been a constant struggle between the American ideal that we all are created equal and the harsh ugly reality that racism, nativism, fear, demonization have long torn us apart. The battle is perennial, and victory is never assured.” 💙 President Joseph R. Biden 🌹 🌹 🌹 [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/9/6/2267349/-GNR-for-Friday-Sept-6-2024-We-re-Not-Going-Back-now-DO-SOMETHING?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/