Sleight Of Hand August 4, 2018August 3, 2018 You don’t think Americans can be fooled by the KGB or a circus barking sociopath into thinking crazy things? Or even just by a clever prankster like the one I wrote about who made the shed in his back yard London’s #1-rated restaurant even though it existed for just one night and served frozen dinners. Look at the crazy things Sean Hannity and his viewers believe — that Fox News itself debunks. Look at what the QAnon nuts at Trump rallies believe — I’ll bet you didn’t know Trump and Mueller are secretly working together to take down a shadowy cabal of pedophiles that includes Obama, Clinton, and Tom Hanks. It would be vaguely funny if Trump were not in fact President and Putin were not in fact attacking us — and winning. People can be fooled. Consider this very fun magic act (thanks, Mel!). Do you believe this guy has supernatural powers? No, like Trump, he’s just scamming you. The rather important difference being that everyone knows the magician is just doing an act . . . he makes no claims that he alone can fix it, or that he’ll get you great health care for a tiny fraction of the cost. He’s just trying to entertain you, not destroy our democratic institutions. THREE WAYS TO VOLUNTEER Join Team Blue. CrushTheMidterms. It even designs an action plan for you. MobilizeAmerica. No need to choose: sign up with all three. Spread the word. And if you can — click here. OMG, OMG, OMG — the new season of Better Call Saul starts tonight. (Tomorrow night, if you’re reading this Sunday.)
Who Doesn’t Like Butter? August 3, 2018August 2, 2018 I didn’t know Land O’ Lakes was a Fortune 500 company, but it is, and its new CEO, Beth Ford, is openly gay — only the third after Apple’s Tim Cook and Dow Chemical’s Jim Fitterling. If you round up, 1% of Fortune 500 CEOs are now openly LGBT! If you had told me in 1973, when I first wrote about this stuff, that the world’s first trillion-dollar company would be run by an openly gay man (or that the 44th President of the United States would be black) — or that one of the country’s three largest cooperatives would be run by an openly gay woman (or that I would prefer a thing called Smart Balance to actual butter, however stupid that might be) — I would have considered you unhinged. But here we are. It’s still tough for many to be openly gay — this study tells the tale. But boy have we ever made progress. And at no cost to the taxpayer! (If you had told me, further, we would win the first Cold War without firing a shot at Russia, but that Russia would be winning the second, having helped to elect a sociopath, I would have offered you three ways to fight back.) Have a great weekend.
How The DNC Is Investing Your Money August 2, 2018August 1, 2018 Check it out — I think you may be heartened. Short form: The DNC has enhanced its voter file with the purchase of 94 million more cell phone numbers . . . has identified 25 million likely Democratic voters who are not yet registered . . . has funded registration of Puerto Ricans displaced to Florida and Pennsylvania . . . is raising millions in small-dollar contributions directly for candidates in tough races (including special-election winners like Doug Jones and Conor Lamb) . . . is providing cybersecurity guidance to the state parties . . . and a lot more. Most important (if you ask me): it is funding field organizers to engage the tens of millions who vote our way in Presidential years but normally sit out the mid-terms. We don’t have enough money to reach them all, which is why I keep asking. (And thanking you the minute I see your contribution come thru.) THREE WAYS TO VOLUNTEER Join Team Blue. CrushTheMidterms. It even designs an action plan for you. MobilizeAmerica. No need to choose: sign up with all three. Spread the word. [HOUSEKEEPING: For those of you who get this post delivered by email (because you entered your email address in the box to the right), you’ve been getting them automatically, as soon as I click “publish.” Now WordPress (or is it MailChimp?) no longer supports the plug-in that made that happen, so you may experience a delay. My apologies in advance for any you don’t get in a timely way.]
Three Ways To Volunteer August 1, 2018July 31, 2018 Join Team Blue. CrushTheMidterms. It even designs an action plan for you. MobilizeAmerica. No need to choose: sign up with all three. Spread the word.