Kagro in the Morning

A clear Tuesday calendar (with the exception of a note from Scott Anderson that he's out-of-pocket today) left us with a stark choice: dive into just a few key stories, in-depth, or; a flurry of lightning round treatments of a dozen or more stories, all figuring into a more complete understanding of the national political climate? Answer: the few key stories. First up, that damn golf course story. Again! But yes, it's actually critical, "at a level never seen before," to borrow a phrase from an asshole who already owns enough. Yes, at bottom, it's about a golf course, and it shouldn't matter all that much. But two pieces of coverage of the latest courtroom proceedings both emphasize that far broader principles are at stake here. First, Chris Geidner's coverage of "The Department of Justice's" attempt to force the judge to recuse herself from the case, which I remind you is about a golf course! And second, Steve Vladeck's discussion of everything that led up to that attempt, which amply demonstrates how far the "DOJ" is willing to go to support its ridiculous arguments, even in a case which, I remind you again, is about a golf course! There was, however, at least one more story that demanded long-form attention, and that was a follow-up to another insane "DOJ" ploy in California, regarding allegations of "voter fraud." You remember: the ones purportedly demonstrated by the list of supposedly ineligible-yet-registered voters that was allegedly the content of that mystery USB thumb drive. This on the heels of that 48-hour turnaround demand, federal "authorities" have begun arresting people they claim were on that list, despite their decidedly $#*tty record with the validity of previous such lists in other states. Meanwhile, Trump has been trying to leverage his "unitary executive" powers to force the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to... "secretly acquire a voting machine and hack it." That is, to do what Tina Peters was (until... recently) actually in prison for doing. And speaking of Tina Peters, it seems she's been released from prison in Colorado only to take her act national, and step up to even larger crimes, encouraging Trump to declare martial law to hold on to power before, during and after the upcoming elections. How expansive could those powers be? You don't wanna know, but will find out, anyway.

David Waldman kept today's KITM going until his last UPS died. Listen on Libsyn! Bert Mizusawa might have what it takes to win an election, but not in David's county, they're picky there. Gops are struggling and Elon Musk needs every penny he can get to give to them. Greg Dworkin does what he can to support Elon by promoting many of the very links that you are about to open. It's not about the polls anymore. Even pollsters could've predicted that. Nowadays, speculative divination is being gleaned from early voting which, although too early to tell, complex and open to interpretation… but… is consistent with data suggesting possibly, hopefully, maybe. Take that with a grain of salt. So, enjoy the moment. Gops are in disarray in more ways than anyone can keep up with. Alina Habba and her new husband want to cut Ric Grenell out of his share of their Venezuelan booty. (There's no booty that Donald Krasnov Trump doesn't want a piece of.) Speaking of ass, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed handed some heckler his at a recent town hall. But that wasn't just some heckler, that was little Tommy Teepell, son of big Timmy Teepell and backers of Christian Nationalism, the very folks who would think being Muslim was a crime. CBS reporter Jan Crawford loves fake news, just as some of her co-workers cling to the last bits of the real stuff.

David Waldman presents another KITM under the cloud of another mass shooting. This time, a teen shooter killed four people in an elementary school before apparently encountering some bystander cleaning their gun. He was stopped before he made it to the Nurse's Office, where Trump was aiming him. We can only hope that future shooters will become too stupid to operate guns. A trillionaire supervillain can kill only so many people before the military comes around and starts breaking all of their stuff. The continued success of Elon Musk's Special Executive for Counter‑intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion can only be credited to Elon not taking the credit for it. Donald K. Trump has abused Ilhan Omar for about a quarter of her lifetime. He can't get quite close enough to rape her, therefore his plan has evolved into stripping off her citizenship and deporting her, both MAGA approved alternatives. Kristi Noem wants to watch. Trump's DOJ began active election interference in California. The administration is being sued by 47 states over their attempted collection of voter data. 25 Schedule G appointees are now administration made men. Katie Zacharia is not. Vandals cut 85 holes in Trump's reflecting pool liner, clearly hoping for 86. Expect to see many, many holes in the weeks to come. White House lawyers are adamant that Trump holds executive privilege over ever being embarrassed again.

David Waldman bides his time and ours till the election, by releasing another fascinating KITM. Elon Musk is a supervillain who has actually chosen to kill millions, not because of profit or ideology, but by whim. He owns a microblogging propaganda website that Greg Dworkin visits in order to supply our polling fix. Dems are polling well. Gops are getting killed, but in this case, figuratively. Democrats are preparing for victory. Republicans are preparing for defeat. Neither will get as much as they deserve. Nevertheless, there's already winners and losers. James Talarico took Texans head-on in a CNN town hall. Luckily, James had God on his side. Meanwhile, Gop Andy Harris' debate was a laugh riot. In Andy's defense, he never had to know anything before this moment, and he won't have to at any time in the future either. Abdul El-Sayed knows how to play ball, and when not to. Katie Zacharia, how does she do it? The secret is, she didn't really do it. In fact, she didn't do it at all. Whatever she wasn't doing, she did not do it in China. Kimberly Giulfoyle is out in the cold in Greece. She doesn't think she can trust anybody, and she's right. Kim probably regrets not getting that ass-lift right about now, although Donald's tastes seem to be transitioning… Ted Cruz and Mike Lee want to rescue John Eastman, the problem is, everyone hates those guys. Then again, all Republicans pretty much all hate each other.

David Waldman and Greg Dworkin take us one day closer to Election Day. And Halloween! Probably a few others we wouldn't want in a hurry, but Election Day can be ASAP. Horoscopes and polls predict the future about equally well, yet the day after with a bad horoscopevdoesn't hit quite so hard. The best thing about recent polling, however, is that Republicans do believe it, and are cracking under the strain. Gops are pulling money from their incumbents, it's become so bad. That crackup is becoming fun but becoming pretty scary, also. Trump pardoned 2 auto workers on stage during his Alaska rally. Executions would, of course, get more press but the public just isn't there yet. The election is revealing some clever people, some smart people, and some real goofballs. The difference between stupidity and ignorance is that ignorance can be temporary. Soon, we won't have Kimberly Guilfoyle to kick around anymore. Well, maybe not "soon". There's still plenty to kick her about. People like Eric Deters are now beginning to kick more sensitive behinds, including the world's most sensitive, and largest ass, Donald K. Trump. Definitely not a quick cleanup.

David Waldman brings us the newest about the latest on KITM. Donald K. Trump opened his Circle of Hell in Youngstown, to praise John Husted's impressive "data center". I don't know how Husted should take this, as Donald was probably lying. Apparently, kickbacks were running thin and Kimberly Guilfoyle had to be let go, that is, fed to the wolves. Trump ended the war between Russia and Ukraine with his mind. South Dakota Gop Monae Johnson became somewhat less ignorant, a little less Gop. Meanwhile, His Excellency, the Most Reverend Timothy P. Broglio, J.C.D., Archbishop for the Military Services, USA, knew right from wrong pretty much all along. Where was James Talarico? Ken Paxton couldn't find him anywhere. Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar girds his loins as the election and ICE approaches. They say you can't be too young, blonde, or dumb for Trump's White House, yet Katie Zacharia is willing to give it a try. A furious judge halted tree removal and demanded answers on Trump's D.C. golf plan. So far, that has not halted tree removal nor delivered her answers.

David Waldman congratulates Hitler Mussolini, one of the "good ones", on today's jam-packed KITM. For several months, Greg Dworkin has brought us polls which we understood were really probably not portents of anything to come. Well, those days are done, that cake has sailed, we now have early voting results not meriting our credence, many gleaned from the least trustable place on earth. Nonetheless, all pretty good news, if things remotely turn out that way. At least we can see things, at this moment, suck for Gops, and rock for Dems. Trump's illegal ad stole taxpayer money, and makes viewers hate him more. Donald K. Trump is earning the next Nobel prize, which is slated to be a Russian franchise in a few months, by "brokering a peace deal" between Russia and Ukraine, which neither had heard about, and setting up an oil deal that only he and Vlad and Iran have known about since September. Speaking of Jeffrey Epstein, so is Marjorie Taylor Greene. No, you do not have to hand it to her, although sooner or later, someone probably will. Ilhan Omar tops today's vengeance list. Kimberly Guilfoyle accepted bribes and bragged about them. It is unclear what Trump would have against that, unless he didn't get a cut. Katie Miller and Stephen Miller, quiconque a du goût et de l'humanité les déteste. La guillotine est trop bonne pour eux. Pete Hegseth can be first to wherever Democrats want to send him. 500 trees might be removed for Trump's DC public to private golf club conversion…. A federal court orders that tree removal must stop… oops! They're all gone! No one could see that coming. Kansas Gop Roger Marshall has one fewer person booing him now that he paid his bakery bill.

David Waldman treats us to another KITM beforeanother jerky weekend. Did you hear? There's talk about impeaching Donald K. Trump and Pete Kegsbreth! So much so that the two of them teamed up to introduce a frankly compelling alternative. Yes, it is impossible to underestimate the depravity of this administration. Next up against the wall are slated to be Somalis. Not just any Somalis but... no... actually, any Somalis. Tom Emmer went from holding a caucus to holding the Luger. Let's see, following the Somalis will be... Canadians. We're gonna need a bigger wall. Trump also wants criminal charges against Cassidy Hutchinson, and Lisa Cook, and probably Navi Pillay before the end of today. What about Kimberly Guilfoyle? Kim established a "fake it 'till you make it" club in Greece that did a lot of faking, but not much making. Eric "Honey please" Deters is really in the doghouse with his wife now! Marco Rubio doesn't believe a word of this, except for the part where he takes her out before she endangers his bosses. Don Jr says, "Tell Kim. I want her to know it was me." Set a course for repugnance! Boxcars of migrants can now be simply loaded into cargo ships for deportation.

David Waldman fixed his KITM audio problems! Now, if he only knew how he did it, he could try to remember it for next time. Greg Dworkin brings us joyous polling with great tidings of Democratic leanings! Double haters will smite the Gops as we head to the promised land of November 4… Ok, polls have historically been crap. They are probably crap this time, too. But look at it this way… poll crappiness could be crappy towards Dems, but it's imaginable that they could, this time, be crappy towards Gops, who generally deserve it more. The point is, enjoy it now, and maybe you'll get to enjoy it then too! Donald K. Trump is unbelievably smart, strong, kind, and honest, but mostly unbelievable. No one believes that he'll give them $5000, and everyone is correct that he won't. Trump will remain unbelievable and things will get worse over the next few weeks, which isn't really good news for anybody. The one word voters use to describe Trump is "corrupt", but in the Trump administration there's plenty of corruption to go around. Look at Kimberly Guilfoyle… not directly of course, but you can look at plenty of corruption around her as she plies many mystery men with many side hustles for much money… and it now looks as if Kim has stepped on a few toes. Susan Collins has made a career out of not stepping on toes, which makes her the worst.

David Waldman keeps waking up with computer problems that he previously solved yet can't remember how. Henceforth, future tech solutions will be tattooed somewhere on his body. Greg Dworkin rounded up the punditry and the polls. The polls show voters heading towards to the blue everywhere, no matter how red. Where it's blue the lead grows past double digits. Meanwhile, Red regret soars. Texans might vote to tar and feather Bo French. Dems are outpacing the rigging. Gops have a whole lot of money, but only dopes to spend it on. Susan Collins is going to prove she can too eat road salt. Tom Barrett will have to eat a few data centers. You cannot prove that Zach Lahn did not live in Iowa. If you won't let them buy elections, Republicans will just be forced to steal them. Cleta Mitchell and Tina Peters are getting the gang together for another heist, while the administration picks off the guards. Voters might not want data centers, but Donald K. Trump can think of a billion reasons to keep them, the first of which is that he needs one to make his legs work. Trump needs another to figure out how to make everything Trump and how to keep everything Trump… and to make you pay for it. Trump mows down trees as old as the Constitution. Umar Kremlev received your check paying him for Don Jr.'s wedding, thank you. CBS remembered that Denny Hastert covered up sexual abuse, but so far has forgotten about his child raping. Megyn Kelly believes the Roger Ailes was too gentle with her.