September 12, 2024

Another One Rides the Bus: Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who, like former Vice President Dick Cheney, was part of President George W. Bush’s administration, followed in Cheney’s footsteps this morning, and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris’ bid for president. While citing Harris as the one “best suited, able and committed to unite us in a manner consistent with the rule of law,” he criticized her opponent, former President Donald Trump, as “perhaps the most serious threat to the rule of law in a generation”. He also called out members of Congress, saying that they “have proven spectacularly incapable or unwilling to check abuses of executive power.” He also emphasized the fact that he remains a Republican in the same sentence that he specifically endorsed Harris. LINK

Inactive: Stepping away from the presidential election, Congress took a step away from ensuring the federal government keeps working properly, as House Speaker Mike Johnson (R) pulled a stopgap funding plan that would have kept things going for a few months. Word is that members of his Republican caucus on the far-right continue to be the primary stumbling blocks. One of the biggest issues is the controversial SAVE Act, which conservatives and Trump want added to the bill, which would require documentary proof of US citizenship to register to vote in federal elections — despite the fact that it is already illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections. The only concrete things this bill would seem to do is 1) make it harder for citizens without easy access to birth certificates (i.e., poorer Americans) to vote, and 2) give Republicans an easy message of, “Look who’s voting against election integrity!” LINK

The Check’s in the Mail: Postmaster General Louis DeJoy was chastised yesterday by a group letter from the National Association of State Election Directors and the National Association of Secretaries of State. Both criticized DeJoy — and the United States Postal Service in general — for continued, widespread problems with the USPS’ ability to distribute and collect mail-in ballots in a timely fashion. This goes out as mail-in voting has already started in Alabama. (North Carolina was supposed to be first up, but got delayed due to a state Supreme Court ruling insisting that the ballots be reprinted without former candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s name on them.) The postal service, for their part, dismissed the criticism, insisting that its carriers are “ready to deliver”. Regardless of the outcome of this tiff, though, it seems that if you’re going to be voting by mail, it would be wise to get your ballot sent in as soon as possible.

I Think I’m a Clone Now: After yesterday’s Swift-ly written report, I decided once again to reference a famous musician’s songs in today’s blog. Any guesses who today’s might be? (And yes, for those that figured it out, it’s … odd that I didn’t use the current buzz-word for the Republican presidential ticket at any point in this post!)