There's reason for optimism the outcome on Tuesday night (we hope that early) may swing in Kamala Harris' favor if polling that's now including "early voted" responses are any indication. In that subset, Harris leads Trump by 19-29 points depending on the poll, and in all but one swing state by solid or even gaudy margins, too. Remember, too, that MAGA voters have come to embrace early voting more this cycle, meaning their closing these gaps on Election Day become muted. We'll see.

From the Department of "I knew it; I f*cking KNEW IT" comes this Cato Institute report that shows criminals crossing illegally into the U.S. did so in FAR greater numbers under Donald Trump than under Joe Biden & Kamala Harris. That's right: Trump released more migrants with criminal records than Biden has. I knew it; I f*cking KNEW IT!

Lastly, my guest today is Mary Rose Wood, a Chapin, SC high school language arts teacher, whose use of the Ta-Nehisi Coates' book "Between the World and Me" got her caught up in controversy. Because, you know, a conversation about race in the United States makes o̶l̶d̶e̶r̶ w̶h̶i̶t̶e̶ p̶e̶o̶p̶l̶e̶ i̶n̶ t̶h̶e̶ S̶o̶u̶t̶h̶ students uncomfortable.

I learned of her from her brother, musician John Wesley Satterfield, posting to his fan page on Facebook about his "bad ass" sister, he and her and their family meeting Ta-Nehisi Coates, and the sheer amount of blowback she's gotten in their hometown. Nevertheless, she persisted, bringing the book back into her classroom after it was forbidden to be used in curriculum. Bad ass.

Hear how this Chapin native, daughter of a former principal at the school she now teaches at, has been targeted by school board candidates with smears of "communism" and mailers featuring a photo of her circulating the town, along with quips that maybe she 'doesn't belong' there ... her hometown ... by folks nowhere near Chapin, itself.