Blue Horseshoe

Democrats demand increased fertility treatment access for LGBTQ federal workers .....Congressional Democrats are pushing the federal government to make it easier for LGBTQ federal workers to access fertility treatments....More than 30 House Democrats, plus Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., wrote a letter to the Office of Personnel Management claiming the definition of "infertility" in existing government employee health plans was "outdated and lacks inclusivity."...."By adopting an inclusive definition that recognizes the full spectrum of reproductive needs and removing unnecessary barriers to coverage, we can ensure that all federal employees, regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity, or marital status, have access to the comprehensive reproductive health care they deserve," the lawmakers said.... .....Just last month, House Republicans added amendments to the annual National Defense Authorization Act that would stop military health care from covering surgeries and hormone treatments for transgender troops. Both sides of the aisle have also butted heads over taxpayer dollars being given to LGBTQ organizations....."We would like to highlight two specific concerns with the current definition of infertility used by OPM," the letter states. "First, the requirement of six cycles of Artificial Insemination or Intrauterine Insemination performed by a qualified specialist using normal quality donor sperm, while excluding other assisted reproductive technologies, is both arbitrary and unnecessarily restrictive....The second concern, they said, was that "the definition fails to account for same-sex couples and single individuals....." .....Fertility treatments like intrauterine insemination and in vitro fertilization typically cost thousands of dollars out of pocket and are not always covered by health insurance policies.... https://www.yahoo.com/news/democrats-demand-increased-fertility-treatment-183937068.html

Pennsylvania Mother Who Testified Against Her Son To Get a Plea Deal After Driving Him to Murder Her Ex-Boyfriend Is Sentenced to 20 to 40 Years In Prison .....A Pennsylvania woman was convicted for enlisting her son to murder her ex-boyfriend after he broke up with her. Now, the woman will possibly spend the rest of her life in prison for concocting a plan to have her lover killed.....Joyce Brown Rodriguez, 56, pleaded guilty to third-degree murder, criminal conspiracy, and related minor charges in December 2022. These charges stem from the December 2020 shooting death of Christopher Wilson, 52, her former partner of two years, according to the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office....An Investigation into the case showed that Wilson and Brown Rodriguez were romantically involved from 2018 until Wilson ended it..... ....Distraught, Brown Rodriguez bombarded Wilson with calls and texts before showing up at his workplace on Dec. 9, 2020, a day prior to the shooting. She messaged her son to come to Kuusakoski Inc., a recycling facility in Middletown Township, to help her confront her ex. According to her own testimony, she drove her son to Wilson’s workplace, parking discreetly. As Wilson talked with a colleague outside his car, her son emerged, firing multiple rounds even after Wilson dropped to the ground. After the deadly shooting, Brown Rodriguez and her son drove back home to Philadelphia. She was eventually arrested and worked out an agreement with the prosecutors....Bucks County Court Judge Jeffrey Finley sentenced Brown Rodriguez to a minimum of 20 years and a maximum of 40 years behind bars....As a part of her plea deal, she had to testify against her son, whom she asked to kill Wilson..... ....While testifying before the grand jury, Brown Rodriguez said her sole intention was for her son to talk with Wilson on her behalf....Contrarily, law enforcement presented evidence to the grand jury indicating that Brown-Rodriguez had been searching for a gun in the days preceding the shooting...Chynea Wilson, one of the victim’s daughters, could not believe Brown Rodriguez still tried to maintain a relationship with her....“You had the audacity to walk up and hug me when you had your son murder my father,” she said during her victim impact testimony....She continued, “You were shameless, like a demonic person, acting like nothing had happened. For that, you deserve everything coming to you.....” https://www.yahoo.com/news/pennsylvania-mother-testified-against-her-204100747.html ***** Now imagine if Brown Rodriguez and her son were white instead. Now imagine, alternatively, if Wilson was white, what would be the difference? Because it's "black on black" crime, the majority of the activist left leaning MSM won't really touch stories like this. But there would "outrage" and the race hustlers would come out of the woodwork, screaming and yelling, if the shooter was white. But it's not about race. It's about an idiot mother, her idiot son and an old guy who got mixed up with too many idiots at once, tragically so. There's a real problem with black males killing each other in this country. It's not some isolated situation, it's apparent and widespread, across time as well. But no one can have a real discussion about it, because you'd be called a racist for simply bringing it up.

Vivek Ramaswamy shares 10 commandments of 2024 campaign, starts with 'God is real,' 'There are two genders' .....Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy shared a list of what he called 10 truths to social media Thursday, with references to faith, gender, and capitalism. Ramaswamy, a biotech entrepreneur who is seeking the Republican nomination, shared the ideals on X, starting with, "God is real" and "There are only two genders" — the latter being a contentious claim by those on the Left. The list also promotes the importance of fossil fuels, condemns "reverse racism," defends the role of parents in choosing their own children's education, and boasts the U.S. Constitution as the "strongest guarantor of freedoms in history." While many voters may have started the 2024 presidential campaign unfamiliar with Ramaswamy, some polls have the rising Silicon Valley star in the top three among GOP candidates, behind former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis..... His list followed: 1. God is real. 2. There are two genders. 3. Human flourishing requires fossil fuels. 4. Reverse racism is racism. 5. An open border is no border. 6. Parents determine the education of their children. 7. The nuclear family is the greatest form of governance known to mankind. 8. Capitalism lifts people up from poverty. 9. There are three branches of the U.S. government, not four. 10. The U.S. Constitution is the strongest guarantor of freedoms in history. ....."My parents came to this country 40 years ago with no money in a single generation," he said at the event. "I have gone on to found multi-billion dollar companies and did it while marrying my wife, Apoorva, and raising our two sons. That is the American dream, and I am deeply worried that that American dream will not exist for my two sons and their generation." ....Ramaswamy also said the country was in "the middle of a national identity crisis" where traditional ideals of "Faith, patriotism, hard work and family… have disappeared only to be replaced by new secular religions in American life [such as] wokeism, transgenderism, climate-ism, chauvinism, globalism, depression, anxiety, fentanyl, [and] suicide."....."These are symptoms of a deeper void of purpose and meaning in our country," he added..... ......"We are starved for purpose and meaning and identity at a time in our national history when the things that used to fill our void. Faith, patriotism, belief in God, nation. The things we talked about when those have disappeared. That leaves a moral vacuum in its wake. And I think that that presents our opportunity, not speaking to conservatives, I'm speaking to Americans. That is our opportunity to step up and to fill that void with a vision of what it means to be an American today," the candidate said in California. Ramaswamy will join his other 2024 contenders for the Republican debate at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee on August 23, 2023. The debate will be moderated by Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum..... https://www.yahoo.com/news/vivek-ramaswamy-shares-10-commandments-092308611.html

California Barnes & Noble 'sniffer' arrested again, failed to register as sex offender ....A 37-year-old Los Angeles man with a history of predatory sex acts and other crimes has been arrested again – a day after he walked out of jail free after pleading no contest to peeping and prowling charges for staring into a home with children inside. Calese Carron Crowder is also the perv identified on viral TikTok videos creeping around a Burbank Barnes & Noble store, crouching down behind women and appearing to "sniff" them from behind.....Crowder was sentenced to 60 days in jail on Monday, slapped with multiple no-contact orders and instructed to enter a rehab program for sex criminals. However, he was sprung free from custody Tuesday and was back out on the streets smelling the roses....Under the terms of one of his many prior convictions, he was supposed to register at the local police station. However, Fox News Digital revealed Wednesday that his name did not appear on the California sex offender registry.... ....."As a component of a previous arrest and sentencing Crowder was ordered to register as a sex offender," the Glendale Police Department said in a statement following his latest arrest. "Glendale Police confirmed that he had not registered as a sex offender with our department and was in violation," police said.....Crowder was also accused of peeping into a Glendale home with children on Aug. 6. A Barnes & Noble shopper posted her encounter with him to TikTok on Aug. 8. He was arrested on Friday and walked free on Tuesday despite pleading no contest to the peeping charges...On Thursday, Glendale police booked him into jail once again – the 43rd time since 2005 in Los Angeles County alone....Crowder previously served time in state prison on burglary and robbery charges and had been sentenced in February to a year in jail for indecent exposure in Santa Clarita, court records show. However, Crowder was released early from that sentence... .....District Attorney George Gascon's office told Fox News Digital earlier this week that it had not yet been presented with a case connected to the Barnes & Nobles incidents. "For questions related to why the defendant was released from custody by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department following sentencing, we direct you to LASD," Venusse Navid, a spokeswoman for Gascon's office, told Fox News Digital Wednesday.....The state's controversial Proposition 47 law, however, co-written by Gascon, has reduced the amount of inmates in custody and lowered the penalties for some crimes, including reducing many nonviolent felonies to misdemeanors.... https://www.yahoo.com/news/california-barnes-noble-sniffer-arrested-141135487.html

Saints tight end Jimmy Graham arrested after medical episode, team believes he may have experienced a seizure ......New Orleans Saints tight end Jimmy Graham was arrested in Southern California on Friday night after experiencing a medical episode, the team announced Saturday.....Graham was arrested after exhibiting erratic behavior, per TMZ. After being evaluated by a doctor, the Saints believe Graham experienced a seizure. Graham was released from the hospital Saturday morning and is already back with the Saints. The Saints released a statement Saturday, which read: "New Orleans Saints tight end Jimmy Graham experienced a medical episode last evening, which resulted in him becoming disoriented. He was taken into custody by local authorities and transported to a local hospital for evaluation for what Dr. John Amoss believes to be a likely seizure and spent the night under medical supervision and testing. Amoss met Graham at the hospital and is overseeing his care at this time. He was released this morning and is with the team as they continue preparations for Sunday's game against the Los Angeles Chargers...." .....Graham was reportedly arrested after police received a call about a suspicious person exhibiting erratic behavior. Officers discovered Graham wandering the streets. Police attempted to arrest Graham, who allegedly resisted. Graham was reportedly arrested for "suspicion of being under the influence of a controlled substance and resisting, delaying and obstructing a police officer," per TMZ. Both are misdemeanors.... https://sports.yahoo.com/saints-tight-end-jimmy-graham-arrested-after-medical-episode-team-believes-he-may-have-experienced-a-seizure-170227195.html

Ex-wife of slain Microsoft exec makes surprising legal move after arrest .....Jared Bridegan's ex-wife, who allegedly orchestrated his murder in Florida for years, was arrested in Washington state, where she's fighting her return to the Sunshine State. Shanna Gardner Fernandez, who could get the death penalty if convicted, won't waive extradition during her first court appearance late Friday afternoon......"Requests for extradition are very rarely refused.....Refusing or fighting interstate extradition may be fruitful in very limited circumstances. But often, it only serves to prevent you from fighting your underlying case. Delaying the process. This may potentially inhibit your local lawyer from preparing a good defense to the underlying charges." .....Jared Bridegan, who was murdered in 2022. His ex-wife, Shanna Gardner-Fernandez, was arrested earlier today on first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and child endangerment charges....Jared was fatally shot on February 16, 2022, in front of his two-year-old daughter, Bexley, after dropping off the twins he fathered with Gardner-Fernandez, at his ex's house in Jacksonville Beach, Florida......Gardner-Fernandez is allegedly the mastermind behind the murderous plot that she allegedly cooked up with her new husband, Mario Fernandez, and his former tenant Henry Tenon, who admitted he was the shooter.....They allegedly conspired to kill Jared as far back as May 2015, according to prosecutors.....After Jared's death, his Gardner-Fernandez was seen smiling in vacation photos, while Jared's current wife, Kirsten Bridegan, was left to pick up the pieces....."She’s taking the twins on vacations immediately after with Mario, with her parents, with people that we felt very strongly were involved in this. It’s sick......" .....Gardner-Fernandez and Jared divorced in 2015 but continued to battle over custody of the twins and finances up until his death....On March 24, days after Jared was buried....(Gardner-Fernandez ) posted photos of the vacation on her blog, showing them paddle boarding, kayaking and building sand castles.....Weeks later, Gardner-Fernandez cut off all contact between the twins and their half-siblings.....Gardner-Fernandez is charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, solicitation to commit murder and child abuse....Her arrest and indictment were announced Thursday by Florida State Attorney Melissa Nelson, who said her office will file a notice of intent to seek the death penalty..... https://www.yahoo.com/news/ex-wife-slain-microsoft-exec-154630984.html

North Dakota police officer's bodycam footage shows moment he was ambushed .....Fargo, North Dakota, police bodycam footage of a deadly assault on officers July 14 was released Thursday, which showed the tense situation one officer endured before fatally shooting the suspect.....North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley and Fargo Police Department Chief David Zibolski held a news conference Thursday to go over surveillance and body camera video evidence of the police-involved shooting in Fargo.....That day, 37-year-old Mohamad Barakat shot and killed Fargo Police Officer Jake Wallin and wounded three other people, including officers Andrew Dotas and Tyler Hawes, who were responding to a traffic crash....Also injured at the scene was Karlee Koswick, a bystander who attempted to flee the scene..... ....Officer Zach Robinson was also at the scene when gunfire began and is credited with stopping a much bigger attack by shooting and killing Barakat....In the bodycam footage from Robinson’s perspective, police were seen responding to a traffic crash. About 38 seconds into the video, rapid fire was heard while several people were seen running for cover....."Central, we got a man with an AK-47 shooting at us," Robinson reported, when more shots are fired by Barakat...."Central, shots fired, shots fired," Robinson said. "We got three officers down, three officers down....." .....Wrigley said Robinson was "the last man standing between what was coming next, and you can see this assailant was armed for."....The attorney general also said Robinson’s use of deadly force was reasonable, necessary, justified and lawful.....Investigators searched Barakat’s vehicle after the shooting and found numerous guns, 1,800 rounds of ammunition, a homemade grenade and explosives.....Barakat came to the U.S. in 2012 as a Syrian national on an asylum request... https://www.yahoo.com/news/north-dakota-police-officers-bodycam-003929661.html ******* What if, tragically, something also happened to that 4th officer? What if those officers were not there at the time? Do you think if the above circumstances were the case, that Karlee Koswick wished she had a firearm on her person at the time? Or anyone else there? Or anyone else pinned down and with their kids? Whether or not people here, or out there, like it or not, more violence is coming. I wish that were not the case. But I can't change how the world works right now. Point to note, Barakat came into this country during the reign of the Obama Administration. The same Obama, through Eric Holder, that gave the same kind of AK-47 that Barakat used here, to the Sinaloa drug cartel, to help armed them, with our TAX DOLLARS, to guard the fentanyl shipments being trucked into the United States, to help kill Americans through drug overdoses. The production grade "precursor" is coming from China. Through shell companies that are thinly veiled fronts for the CCP. Of which Joe Biden, through his brother James Biden, and of course Hunter Biden, continue to profit from and has done nothing to stop the fentanyl crisis in this country. Biden was also VPOTUS during Operation Fast And Furious. That claimed the life of a Border Patrol Agent, Brian Terry. Biden also abandoned billions in weapons, again with TAX DOLLARS, for the Taliban and other terrorist groups in Afghanistan. Step 1 - Let psychopaths into this country, without respect to our national sovereignty, where Team Blue makes it "America Last" Step 2 - Take TAX DOLLARS and arm terrorists and drug cartels Step 3 - Defund The Police Step 4 - Enable "bail reform" and pro crime "equity first" Soro's bought DAs that that have destroyed civil order in Big Blue Cities Step 5 - Try to take everyone's guns with excessive gun grabbing laws Step 6 - Gaslight the public at large, while being guarded by highly trained professionals, armed with guns themselves, paid with our TAX DOLLARS, while they set public policy to leave all our families and children out as pure prey So what's the message? We are all on our own. No one is coming to save us. And if no one else is going to defend your personal safety and the security of your family, then you need a gun.

Florida woman spiked man's drink with cockroach spray after they met at a bar, authorities say .....A Florida woman allegedly spiked a man's drinks with Raid roach spray after the pair met at a local bar. Veronica Cline, 29, is charged with poisoning food or drink, the Volusia County Sheriff's Office said Friday.....Deputies were called to a home in Deleon Springs around 4:30 a.m. where they met the man, who had become ill. He said he came home with Cline after she asked him to continue drinking with her.....He said he had two drinks and began feeling sick. Cline allegedly admitted to him to spiking the two drinks with the roach spray.... ...."The victim told deputies he was vomiting for about 30 minutes before he was able to call for help," the sheriff's office said. "He became sick again while providing his statement to a deputy."....Cline wasn't at the home when deputies arrived. A law enforcement K-9 tracked her down and she was taken into custody. She was being held in the Volusia County Branch Jail without bond pending her first court appearance...Authorities didn't reveal if Cline provided a motive for the alleged poisoning..... https://www.yahoo.com/news/florida-woman-spiked-mans-drink-191158471.html **** A larger question becomes what are the practical mechanisms to "meet" new people? Once you get out of college, the world tends to get smaller for most people. There are some heavy drawbacks by getting "too close" to people that you work with, and every other venue ( gym, social groups, hobby groups, etc, etc) also carries some basic risk to it. You can do more to get to know people you don't know already, but then there's the investment of time and risk. I'm not saying people shouldn't take some risks in life, but clearly social norms across the board are starting to erode and that complicates things even more.

I started the above thread topic so people can take their complaints about my posts and thread topics there. You are more than welcome to try to bring your grudge there.

^ This illustrates the major problem with Trump. This shouldn't be acceptable political discourse in the actual industry. But it's been normalized. There's no value in that, but Trump eggs it on, because it makes it all about him again. Trump has been persecuted beyond all reasonable measure at times. But he doesn't help himself very much out there. He takes many bad situations and makes them worse. He enables low value people like Pimpadeaux and allows them to have a platform. That doesn't help America. Here's the big thing - Will Trump fix K-12 education in his country? Because that's where many of the solutions start period. I don't see Trump wanting to take on the teachers unions. That's a huge fight and it does nothing for his own ego and narcissism. But it's the most important fight that NEEDS TO HAPPEN to save this entire country and it's future. ANY politician who won't fix K-12 needs to go. So that wipes out every last Democrat. Since Team Blue controls Big Education, they aren't rocking that boat. Ramaswamy will actually roll on the attack and attempt to clean up K-12. Even if it costs him. Because if he drags out a rare win, it's his only chance at reelection. Some of you despise Trump. But you won't hate him more than you love your own children. Or future grandchildren. K-12 needs to be fixed. I don't care who does it, but it's the major litmus test that truly matters right now in this country. Team Blue won't do it. They have the levers now and won't do it. Look at how badly they screwed up the pandemic and public schools. They ruined millions of children for their own greed and incompetence. People who spend all their time spitting on Trump instead of looking at how to fix Big Education, particularly K-12, are essentially getting on their knees and begging for their children and grandchildren to inherit a country built on ashes. Is TDS worth the future of your kids? Many unhinged zealots think so. A lot of the activist radical leftists here want Trump gone because they have endless TDS and are just low information voters and low character people in general. Only a zealot would be willing to watch the entire country burn with their children still inside of it. I want Trump gone because he doesn't help fix this country for the future. He brings more problems than solutions. He drags the conversation away from what will be needed to be done to save America. Trump needs to go. The point is for AMERICA TO WIN, not for The Big Cheeto to win.

Haley has the donors. Trump has a large financial warchest, but it's not enough for a general election. When the primaries hit, if this splits into a more even race with Ramaswamy or DeSantis, that just makes the money angle even harder for him. The Big Cheeto basically ran out of money in both 2016 and 2020 at the end of his campaigns. In 2016, he had Mark Burnett running his optics, and Kellyanne Conway as a strategist is actually a rare genius in the world of professional politics. Steve Bannon, for all his flaws and corruption and stupidity, is actually an extremely effective logistics guy for a campaign. Trump has NONE of those key elements on his side in 2024. And while lots of people despise Biden, the critical suburban women voter shifts might not work in his favor. Noem doesn't bring in big ticket donors. Nikki Haley does. Haley is the textbook VPOTUS candidate. I'm not saying Trump will offer it to her ( but he should, based on practical political strategy) By "losing" 2020, there was ZERO "return on investment" for the many big donors who bet on Trump in 2016 and won out and then doubled down again. They spent a lot and got nothing for it in 2020. That's stink that doesn't wash off. Just more controversy and hardship being around Trump's toxicity. The "Stop The Steal" conflicts are also optics poison for donors. If it's Trump vs Biden 2.0, odds are, that Trump would lose the 2024 general election. I know that seems incomprehensible that Biden/Harris could push another four years, but the pathway will be against Trump. If he appears to be too strong, Team Blue will try to cheat him out of the election. If he survives that, the corporate establishment will attempt to assassinate him. If he manages to skirt that, he'll face more lawsuits, hearings, trials, etc, etc, until it just breaks this country in half. Beyond that, Trump back in the White House will mean the DNC will use it's ancillary black bag outfits to make sure there is endless looting, rioting and burning in major cities. Team Blue just doesn't give a damn at this point, they'll watch this entire country burn rather than see Trump hold office again. The RNC shifting some of the debate thresholds around were built to limit Ramaswamy. If he gets to the debate stage and holds the ground he's carrying now ( he's running as close to a perfect campaign given his situation, as of today) , he can take the primary. The polling shows heavy Trump, but the polling industry is busted. Nikki Haley hits the entire checklist. Minority woman. Solid track record in politics. Foreign policy experience. Still attractive. Husband is rank and file military. No major scandals. Can handle the press. Has big donors in her pocket. Will appeal to suburban women voters and the Asian vote. Is a mother and raising her own biological children ( it actually matters that Kamala Harris raised white children from a white husband, also Doug Emhoff is going to get run through the rails for every DLA Piper scandal he was involved with and it will be good sized hits against them both) Of course, never underestimate Trump's ability to make things harder than it has to be. He's great at attacking the "establishment", but he's also a narcissist and an imbecile. All he had to do in 2016 was shut up and let Kellyanne Conway run the country. She would have kicked Kushner and Manafort out. And she would have done a good job with basic functional governance. Trump did not win 2016 as much as Hillary Clinton lost in spectacular fashion and Conway was a pure miracle worker. She'll NEVER get the credit she deserves simply because of the Trump "legacy" poisons everyone around him.

In this cycle? The ideal right now is Ramaswamy. He's disruptive. The Military Industrial Complex will despise him, but that's not such a bad thing. He's not a warhawk. He would push to fix K-12 education, first and foremost, the only candidate on both sides who would actually attempt it and likely the only one who could pull it off. Barring that, in the most practical alternative, DeSantis and Nikki Haley. Neither is all that interesting, but "boring" isn't the worst thing in the world given the past two administrations of the DNC's personal human houseplant and what's left of Trump's ego, plus that nimrod Obama and that meathead in W Bush. Haley has enough foreign policy experience and common sense to handle China. Which matters more and more every day. Haley absorbed A LOT of big ticket donors with the expectation that she'd be the top VPOTUS candidate for basically everyone. The RNC is intentionally seasoning Wesley Hunt out of Texas for the long term. I don't see it with him. Not the electability angle ( I don't think that is there as well) but he's not someone who can do real policy. He hits a checklist and he's "spending time" with Ronna McDaniel, so that explains quite a bit. He has some hawkish undertones to him. He wouldn't be terrible, he just wouldn't be good. The best long term bet for functional governance would be physician/astronaut/Navy SEAL Jonny Kim. He hits the entire checklist. He's basically the kind of political candidate with the real life bonafides you could only create in a fiction novel. His "narrative" is pretty compelling and his success rate is phenomenal. I don't think he can be controlled, so the DNC will covet him but pass. The GOP shouldn't make that mistake. Watch a few interviews with him, the subtext and nuance that he gives bodes well for handling conflict and other people. He can be a political rising star if he choose that path. For the bizarre "celebrity" angle, then Denzel Washington. He'd win. And he'd massacre all comers in the press. He's smart enough to know when to hire someone smarter to work for him and get out of their way, which is basically all you can ask from a Hollywood stalwart. He's also hard line Conservative, but won't say so in the press. He'd take the entire black vote, appeal to young voters, generate massive fundraising and Hollywood would have to stay on the sidelines, killing off Jeffrey Katzenberg's money printing machine for the DNC, which is a huge advantage for Republicans. It's a good question, thanks for asking. Good to still see you here.

https://www.fftodayforums.com/forum/topic/515051-trump-indicted/?page=34&tab=comments#comment-7319225 Posted by @BuckSwope 08/02/23 at 06:55 AM "This is the spin- he was just innocently "holding out hope"? Thanks for the am laugh. Delusional? If not jail time, shouldn't believing you won an election you didn't should at least disqualify you from office." ******** Stacey Abrams Struggles With Black Male Voters in Georgia While Wielding National Clout ....With the November election just weeks away, Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams is dealing with an unusual political problem. She has become a star on the national political stage. But in her own state -- where she has proved in recent presidential and Senate contests that she can get out the vote for Democratic candidates -- she is struggling to gain momentum for her rematch with Republican Governor Brian Kemp. One problem is tepid enthusiasm among a key segment of the Democratic base: Black men. .....One-third of Black men registered in Georgia haven’t voted in the past several elections, with pollsters saying these disaffected voters just don’t think the outcome will improve their lives. In recent years, Black men also have shown they’re more willing to vote Republican, in Georgia and nationally. About 1 in 5 Black men voted for Donald Trump in 2020, up from 2016....Together, these two groups -- Black men who typically don’t vote and those who have crossed party lines -- could determine the outcome in November. The key is figuring out the reasons for their choices and persuading them to change their minds.... ....In 2018, when Kemp defeated Abrams by 55,000 votes, exit polls found that 97% of Black women had voted for Abrams, compared with 88% of Black men. That 9-point gender gap represented 120,000 votes....“Had Black men voted for Abrams at a rate close to Black women, Abrams would already be governor,” Woodbury said.....In a series of appearances that her campaign has dubbed “Stacey and the Fellas,” Abrams is meeting at restaurants and taverns, where Black men are invited to hear her discuss issues of particular concern -- economic opportunities, fair access to capital, incarceration rates -- to answer questions from local urban radio hosts, and to pose their own questions to the candidate..... https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-10-11/black-men-are-showing-tepid-enthusiasm-for-stacey-abrams-in-georgia-race

https://www.fftodayforums.com/forum/topic/515051-trump-indicted/?page=34&tab=comments#comment-7319225 Posted by @BuckSwope 08/02/23 at 06:55 AM "This is the spin- he was just innocently "holding out hope"? Thanks for the am laugh. Delusional? If not jail time, shouldn't believing you won an election you didn't should at least disqualify you from office." ******** Georgia's early voting turnout so far is Blacker, older than recent general elections .....After one full week of in-person early voting in Georgia, nearly 838,000 people have already cast their ballots in an election that is expected to shatter midterm records.....According to an analysis of absentee data from the secretary of state's office, turnout is nearly 60% higher than the same point in time in the 2018 general election, thanks in part to record voter interest and the increasing shift in voters utilizing the state's three-week early voting period.....Looking at the demographics of Georgia's voters so far, the electorate is older and Blacker than this time in previous elections, as tightly contested races for U.S. Senate, governor and other statewide offices is driving voter enthusiasm..... https://www.gpb.org/news/2022/10/24/georgias-early-voting-turnout-so-far-blacker-older-recent-general-elections

https://www.fftodayforums.com/forum/topic/515051-trump-indicted/?page=34&tab=comments#comment-7319225 Posted by @BuckSwope 08/02/23 at 06:55 AM "This is the spin- he was just innocently "holding out hope"? Thanks for the am laugh. Delusional? If not jail time, shouldn't believing you won an election you didn't should at least disqualify you from office." ********

https://www.fftodayforums.com/forum/topic/515051-trump-indicted/?page=34&tab=comments#comment-7319225 Posted by @BuckSwope 08/02/23 at 06:55 AM "This is the spin- he was just innocently "holding out hope"? Thanks for the am laugh. Delusional? If not jail time, shouldn't believing you won an election you didn't should at least disqualify you from office." ********

Fulton County DA deflects on how indictment leaked: ‘I can’t tell you anything’ ....Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis deflected when asked how a draft of the indictment leaked Monday prior to the grand jury voting to charge former President Trump and 18 others. Trump, former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, attorneys Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, Jenna Ellis, Kenneth Chesebro, Jeff Clark, John Eastman, and others, were also charged out of the years-long investigation...The charges include violating the Georgia RICO Act—the Racketeer Influenced And Corrupt Organizations Act; Solicitation of Violation of Oath by a Public Officer; Conspiracy to Commit Impersonating a Public Officer; Conspiracy to Commit Forgery in the First Degree; Conspiracy to Commit False Statements and Writings; Conspiracy to Commit Filing False Documents; Conspiracy to Commit Forgery in the First Degree; Filing False Documents; and Solicitation of Violation of Oath by a Public Officer.... ....On Monday afternoon, the Fulton County Court’s website posted a document listing the same charges included in the indictment released late Monday night.....Reuters first reported on the document, before the Fulton County Court quickly removed it from the website....Trump attorneys Drew Findling and Jennifer Little slammed the Fulton County District Attorney's office Monday afternoon. ..."The Fulton County District Attorney's Office has once again shown that they have no respect for the integrity of the grand jury process," Findling and Little said. "This was not a simple administrative mistake. A proposed indictment should only be in the hands of the District Attorney's Office, yet it somehow made its way to the clerk's office and was assigned a case number and a judge before the grand jury even deliberated....." ....When asked by Fox News for an explanation of the leak, Willis deflected. ...."No, I can't tell you anything about what you refer to," Willis said. "What I can tell you is that we had a grand jury here in Fulton County. They deliberated till almost 8:00, if not right after 8:00, an indictment was returned. It was true billed. And you now have an indictment....I am not an expert on clerks duties or even administrative duties. I wouldn't know how to work that system. And so I'm not going to speculate. Next question...." https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fulton-county-da-deflects-on-how-indictment-leaked-i-cant-tell-you-anything