This is a good thread by David Priess, former CIA & State Dept:

[link:https://twitter.com/DavidPriess/status/1565761059243401217?t=UtJngES37DjB2a1394bDeg&s=19|


Hey, everyone hyperventilating about #EmptyFolders—

Slow down. Breathe.

Yes, the inventory lists empty folders with “CLASSIFIED” banners or marked "Return to Staff Secretary/Military Aide.”

This almost certainly doesn’t mean what you think.

Here’s a sanity check.

1/6

Classified documents, and most unclassified docs that are nevertheless sensitive, are usually carried between offices in places like the White House *in folders*.

Why? In large part, to keep prying eyes (or enterprising press photographers) from seeing them during transit.

2/6

So it is natural that boxes containing hundreds of classified/sensitive documents would also have the very folders that the docs had once been carried in and left in on a principal’s desk.

You need not list which folder each doc was in, if was in a folder at all when found.

3/6

But whether the docs were in these folders or not, the agents needed to document that there were in fact folders in there. Those are physical objects, and the agents there did need to account for ALL of the physical objects they’d found.

4/6

The haphazard intermingling of classified and presumably unclassified papers (and other things) in these boxes suggests that the folders sometimes would be in the same boxes as the documents they once contained, and sometimes not.

5/6

Is it possible that the presence of empty folders—even if they were empty when found, which isn’t clear—reflects that there are additional documents that have not yet been found?

Possibly, sure. But not necessarily. And, I would argue, more unlikely than likely.

/end

I'm sure others have posted but I cannot contain my excitement!!!

[link:https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/08/politics/mar-a-lago-search-warrant-fbi-donald-trump/index.html|]

We started feeling bad yesterday & tested positive.

I had the original strain back before I was eligible for a vaccine & that was bad, I didn't need hospitalization but it wiped me out for 4 months.

This strain isn't nearly as bad so far, more like a cold or flu.

Of course, this is after having the original COVID pre-vaccine, then 2 vaccines, plus a booster.

And I'm going to do everything I can to deliver good Democratic messaging & help elect as many Democrats as possible!

I just felt like I needed to day that.

Who's with me?

Interesting article in Election Law Blog by Derek Muller, with a proposal I had not seen before.

With one simple sentence, Congress could (mostly) end the “independent state legislature doctrine”

The Elections Clause provides, “The times, places and manner of holding elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each state by the legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by law make or alter such regulations, except as to the places of choosing Senators.”

Here, the (hypothetical) Symmetrical Elections Act of 2022:

Except where otherwise inconsistent with the Constitution of the United States or with Federal law, the times, places, and manner of holding elections for Senators and Representatives shall be the same as for the most numerous branch of the state legislature, including the times, places, and manner set forth in the Constitution, laws, and regulations of the state, as authoritatively interpreted by the courts of the state

Much more at link

[link:https://electionlawblog.org/?p=128090|]

Do with it what thou will.

[link:https://www.facebook.com/uvaldepd|]

Heller was the SCOTUS decision that established an individual right to own a gun.

From Wikipedia:

District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008), was a landmark decision of the US Supreme Court ruling that the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution protects an individual's right to keep and bear arms, unconnected with service in a militia, for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home, and that the District of Columbia's handgun ban and requirement that lawfully owned rifles and shotguns be kept "unloaded and disassembled or bound by a trigger lock" violated this guarantee.


Roe v Wade was decided in 1973. District of Columbia v Heller was decided in 2008, much more recent & thus, according to Alito's reasoning anyway, not "deeply rooted in this nation's history."

This is just a point I've made to right-wing gun humpers who are cheering the impending fall of Roe, & it tends to stop them in their tracks, so I figured I'd share it.

Also, most MAGAts don't believe the GOP is trying to destroy American democracy, so this next point isn't always useful, but there are situations where you can make the point that if the Radical Right (which is what I call them now) succeed in eliminating true democracy & suppressing votes to the point that they're basically installing themselves as rulers, do you really think they will tolerate an armed public?

It's a simple straightforward message that can be supported with examples like a woman's right (& freedom) to choose, the right (& freedom) to vote in the manner you choose (in person, by mail, using a drop box), the right (& freedom) to marry the person you love (regardless of your gender) etc

Note that these things are all rights & freedoms that apply to all Americans, & Republicans want to take them away. Democrats are defending them.

If you want to defend your American rights & freedoms, vote for Democrats.

Just some thoughts on messaging ideas... Gotta get back to work...

Recently I’ve seen a variety of comments here on DU about Dem messaging, & in other recent threads, recent developments at Twitter.

I want to highlight a couple items that stood out to me:

1) The point was made that Dem messaging isn’t the problem, media is the problem, because the media doesn’t deliver Dem messaging to the people who really need to hear it most.

-and-

2) Some folks have said things like “If Elon Musk buys Twitter & it fills with right-wing propaganda, I will delete my Twitter account.” Some folks already have.

Do my DU friends see the problem here?

Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that Musk’s purchase of Twitter increases the amount of right-wing propaganda & lies on Twitter (i.e. the number of accounts repeating right-wing/Reich-wing messaging). Folks, that means you are being handed the opportunity to personally “deliver Dem messaging to the people who really need to hear it most”.

For every one of their GOP messages, you can respond with a Democratic message. For every one of their lies, you can respond with truth.

If you believe “the media doesn’t deliver Dem messaging to the people who really need to hear it most” (& I agree they don’t) then YOU (& ME) should deliver it, directly to them, right in front of their eyeballs on Twitter or whatever social media program they appear on.

In my humble opinion, saying “I quit” & running away, without challenging their propaganda is inviting failure & disaster.

Again, just my humble opinion, & it is not my intention to offend any of my friends here.

Thank you for listening.

April 6 (Reuters) - Britain is drawing up plans to send armoured vehicles to Ukraine, according to The Times.

Options under consideration in the Ministry of Defence include sending a protected patrol vehicle, such as the Mastiff, or a vehicle like the Jackal, which can be used as a reconnaissance or long-range patrol vehicle, the report said.

The vehicles would be stripped of sensitive equipment and British troops would be sent to a country neigbouring Ukraine to carry out training, The Times reported, citing a defence source.

Further support, including anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles, would be announced by Britain in the coming days, the report said.

More at link.

[link:https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-drawing-up-plans-send-armoured-vehicles-ukraine-the-times-2022-04-06/|]