FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2026
...on this September 11: We don't expect to be posting again until next week. On this specific September 11, here's the report we'd recommend:
Conservative Fmr. Appeals Court Judge Explains How Republicans Are Trying to ‘Steal’ Midterms in Shocking Column...
A former appeals court judge tore into Republicans in a lengthy piece describing how conservatives are prepping to...steal the upcoming midterm elections.
Michael Luttig, a George H.W. Bush appointee who served as an appeals court judge from 1991 to 2006, unloaded in a piece he penned for The New Republic on Thursday, entitled, “The Final Battle for America’s Democracy.”
And so on from there. With respect to the ongoing, current assault on the possibility of the American project, that's the report we'd recommend today.
Here's the link to Luttig's piece in the New Republic. We don't see a paywall blocking the essay by this widely-celebrated, famously conservative former judge.
For what it's worth, Judge Luttig discussed this theory with Ali Velshi on the August 6 edition of The 11th Hour. To see that discussion, you can start by clicking here.
For Judge Luttig's presentation of this thesis at his Substack site, you can simply click this.
We've been hoping that Judge Luttig's presentations would gain a bit more attention in this dangerous, madness-powered time. Maybe his presentation in the New Republic will sprout a pair of wings.
As always, please note this last important point:
The fact that Judge Luttig says it doesn't necessarily make it true.
Republican voters are attending a Trump rally in Texas, and imploring Republican leaders that elected Dems "Should be shot."
ReplyDeleteThis is nothing new.
If Dems did anything remotely similar Republicans would be clutching their pearls and we'd never hear the end of it.
Frankly, this used to be an effective strategy by Republicans, although less so now that they have lost credibility.
Beware of any supposed liberal advising Dems to back off and bow down to or find common ground with Republicans, such a person is a foe not an ally.
Interestingly, as petty and revengeful as Trump and the Republicans are, they have shown no interest in going after the perpetrators of the supposed assassination attempts against Trump that also happen to be White Republican males.
@1:13 The difference between the side. Reps say Dems should be shot. Dems actually shoot Reps.
DeleteLet's ask Melissa and Mark Hortman.
DeleteDiC is a scumbag.
DeleteSomerby almost seems giddy at the prospect.
ReplyDeleteI don’t know. What he suggests is that this is a “dangerous, madness-powered time.” Sounds more “terrified” than “giddy” to my ear.
DeleteI think you have a theory in your head and you bend and strain what Somerby says to fit your theory rather than adjust your theory to encompass what he actually says.
Yes, of course, that’s exactly what I do.
Delete"I don’t know."
DeleteAgree.
This troll DG doesn't know the obvious, good to know, and hardly surprising.
Somerby is definitely "giddy at the prospect", nothing would please him more than to see those pesky yet popular progressive and left of center Democrats get what Somerby views as some comeuppance.
Sure. Your “theory” is that Somerby is pushing right-wing views. In today’s post, Somerby is pushing the idea that Trump may steal the midterm elections, which, of course, is not a right-wing view. So in your head, to avoid the dissonance between what Somerby writes and your theory, you imagine the reason he’s telling us that Trump might steal the election is because that’s what he’s hoping for.
DeleteWhen facts conflict with your theory, just change the facts.
DeleteTrolls be trolling.
DeleteThis particular right wing troll has a real hard on for Somerby leading to blind loyalty, typical right wing behavior, a case study.
Of course Somerby is giddy.
There has been extensive reporting on this, since 2020, when Trump first began trying to overturn that election. If Somerby had paid attention to Rachel Maddow beyond being irritated by her chuckle, he might have noticed that she has been relentlessly discussing the possibility that Trump wants to steal this election. It’s basically a main topic of discussion on MSNBC. Somerby ridiculed her coverage of the fake electors in 2020, if you recall. One wonders how seriously he has taken this issue, choosing to focus on his notion that Trump really believed he won in 2020, rather than Trump’s obvious and deliberate desire, aided and abetted by the gop, to overturn that one in order to stay in power. Today’s essay by Luttig, which shows a continuation of the gop’s efforts in 2020, seems to be news to Somerby.
DeleteTrump wants to and plans to steal the election and all of his supporters are on board.
DeleteSomerby worries, rightfully so, that Trump's boorishness is bad for the Republicans, but he too is on board because in his warped mind Dems deserve it.
Bob is rubbing his thighs, and possibly stuffing cash down his pants.
DeleteYou’re rubbing your wiener, and nothing is happening.
Delete3:15 - And you can infer all that from what Somerby says, which is that we are experiencing “a dangerous , madness-powered time”! Who, exactly, do you think is paying Somerby to tell us that the Trump era is both mad and dangerous? Putin? Right-wing billionaires? Why would either pay Somerby to tell us that Trump is nuts and yet has the ability to push the big red button?
DeleteRight, DG, the best thing to do is stop being mean to the fascists and show some sympathy for orange felon.
DeleteI figured I wouldn’t get an answer to my question: Who would pay Somerby to tell us that Trump is a dangerous nutball?
DeleteProminent right-wing memes pushed by Somerby.
Delete—Trump may.be seriously mentally ill and cognitively impaired.
— Trump is capable of inflicting immense damage on the country and the world.
— Fox News is vulgar, garbage-can propaganda.
You see these memes pushed on Fox and Twitter all the time, right?
When I accuse Somerby of pushing a meme, I always say what it is. I haven’t called any of your suggestions right wing talking points.
DeleteThere have been several news reports lately about right wing groups paying trolls and influencers. I have listed those with links as they have appeared. There is nothing disqualifying Somerby from being such a person.
DeleteBut why won’t you admit that Somerby routinely says things (e.g., “Trump may be mentally unwell” and “Fox is clown car propaganda”) that are inconsistent with your theory that Somerby is paid to push right-wing memes?
Delete"There is nothing disqualifying Somerby from being such a person"
DeleteNothing except the content of his writing.
I think we should all pity Trump. He had a difficult father and cannot help bring the way he is. I want to read about this pity every day henceforth forever.
DeleteI believe with Bob that Trump genuinely believes he won in 2020, he isn’t lying, he just believes with all his heart that stealing the election is the right thing to do. His father was awful. I’m sure DG has genuine, heartfelt pity for Donald, just like I do. Why must Dems be so smug, angry and prickly? Do they not believe in mental illness, the scumbags?
DeleteEven the “We should pity Trump if he is suffering from a severe mental illness” is not a right-wing meme, at all.
DeleteNo, it’s a meme meant to disarm the progressive left
DeleteSomerby has never called for Trump’s removal or his institutionalization in a carefully selected home for the mentally bewildered.
Delete“Calling for his removal” is easy. I call for his removal—so what? Doing what needs to be done to remove him isn’t so easy. One possible first step: Pressure the media to investigate Trump’s mental health. If a large majority of the country perceives that he’s mentally unhinged, Congress might respond.
DeleteSomerby is an inveterate finger-wagger who ocassionally makes a point or two. That's all he is. This stuff is just dumbass conspiracy theories.
Delete1:33 — I think you may be right.
DeleteBut the points he makes are insightful. I did not know, for example, when he started banging on about immigration that we were in the midst of a huge immigration surge. I did not know when he started banging on about Biden’s senility that Biden would be incapable of waging a reelection campaign.
DeleteCriminal border crossings are not "immigration".
DeleteNot all that insightful. There was nothing the Democrats could do to take immigration off the table. I've made this point before, but Obama set records for deportations, and still Trump won on immigration. Look at Europe, where centrist parties have been cracking down on immigration for years , and STILL, far-right parties are surging because of immigration. Violent crime is at an all-time low, and half the country thinks it's on the rise. Even now, after the inhumanity and economic costs of Trump's deportations has been laid bare, as many people support him on immigration as they do the Democrats -- and plenty of people disapprove of Trump on immigration because they feel he hasn't been cruel enough.
DeleteWe live in shit times with a shitty, self-deluded, perpetually dyspeptic population, and they are going to believe, and vote on, whatever feeds their dyspepsia. Somerby thinking the Democrats could have done something to win on immigration is just another example of his finger-wagging for the sake of finger-wagging.
“Trump would have attacked Democrats on immigration anyway” isn't an answer to criticism of Biden's early immigration choices.
DeleteThe question is if Biden's early policies and the administration's subsequent reversal of them gave these attacks more factual and political force than they would have had otherwise.
The fact is, you miss the point: facts don't matter.
DeleteThat's a circular claim that avoids the argument. Is it not?
DeleteNot even close. The argument itself is founded on a false assumption: that there are a relevant number of persuadable voters attuned to subtle policy shifts. There simply isn't.
DeleteRelevant, persuadable voters didn't need to understand Biden's policies. They only needed to perceive that the border situation had deteriorated and the administration wasn't handling it well.
DeleteThe question is whether different early Biden policies could have produced a less politically damaging border situation and if they did, would it be politically important to Democrats to acknowledge this?
(The Biden administration actually did acknowledge the mistakes of their early immigration policies by reversing them and readopting many of Trump's original policies.)
DeleteOn what do you think they were basing this notional perception? You think they even knew what Biden's border policies were? Because they didn't. They hear stuff about "caravans of immigrants" and the like, and that's it. A lot of them don't even hear that. They simply believe Democrats are "soft on immigration," just as they believe Democrats are "soft on crime," and when someone like Trump talks about Democrats welcoming in criminals and rapists, think "that fits."
Delete"Facts don't matter" Even facts like Trump was a Russian spy and Biden had a cold? 😉
DeleteThey were reading articles about it. Don't you remember when Chicago was putting immigrants up in hotels after Texas sent them to their city? All of that was true and led people to look at Biden's initial immigration policies as a bit of a disaster without understanding the actual policies themselves..
Deletehttps://chicago.suntimes.com/2022/9/9/23343060/chicago-illinois-burr-ridge-immigrants-refugees-texas-abbott-bus-immigration-migration
DeleteArticles like this made Biden's original immigration policy look like a unorganized disaster. And, like I said, the Biden administration basically admitted it was by reversing their policies and re-adopting many Trump policies.
They don't read. I get the sense they aren't alone.
DeleteThese are the same people who were mad about inflation and voted for Trump to "fix it," despite the fact that his policies, to cut taxes and enact tariffs, were guaranteed to increase inflation. They are low information voters who vote on feels, and most of their feels are already in place. My own guess is that Somerby, in addition to his love of finger-wagging, shares those feels on one level or another -- but that's just my feeling.
Trump exhorting his crowd of deplorables to cheat like hell in the upcoming election, to cheers, and the voices in the crowd exhorting the shooting of Democrats. Nice leader, nice bunch.
ReplyDeleteFucking fascists, what is it going to take for media to tell the truth?
DeleteIf us Blues weren't so mean to those Reds, those Reds wouldn't advocate for the stripping away of our rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I think the Goffin/King song "Pleasant Valley Sunday," an outrageously vicious assault on those good and decent people, is what pushed them over the edge.
DeleteThe fucking nerve of Giuliani telling Mayor Mamdani not to go to memorial service, when it was just revealed how Giuliani hid the truth about the health danger around ground 0
ReplyDeleteMore people died from the ghoulish Giuliani and his successor Bloomberg hiding the truth than from the 9/11 attack.
DeleteGiuliani is a disgusting unAmerican pig.
DeleteThen there's W's recent warning to pay closer attention terrorist threats when he and his neocon cabal took the rest of August (2001) off after US intelligence warned of an imminent terrorist attack in America.
DeleteHe needs to STFU and return to trying to paint watercolors of horses.
"The fact that Judge Luttig has said it doesn't necessarily mean that it's true."
ReplyDeleteThe fact that Copernicus has said that the solar system revolves around the sun didn't necessarily mean that it's true.
It is that kind of coyness that exposes Somerby's right wing agenda.
DeleteAll motion is relative. From where I sit, the sun, the moon, and the stars go around the earth.
DeleteSomerby doesn’t believe in relativity.
DeleteIt’s not “coyness.” It’s a methodological warning. You should be skeptical of all evidence, perhaps especially of the evidence that supports your priors.
DeleteBut does Luttig want us to pity Trump? It’s the only way we blues can win. That wasn’t a skeptical remark, it was definitive when Somerby said it.
DeleteShame on Judge Luttig.
ReplyDelete“Judge J. Michael Luttig has not made public diagnoses or specific statements regarding Donald Trump's clinical mental health.
Instead, the retired conservative federal judge has focused his public criticisms on Trump's political conduct, adherence to the rule of law, and fitness for office in terms of democratic norms:
* Clear and Present Danger: Luttig famously stated during the House January 6 committee hearings that Donald Trump and his allies are a clear and present danger to American democracy because of their ongoing efforts to undermine electoral systems.
* War on the Rule of Law: Luttig has characterized Trump's actions and attacks on the federal judiciary as an unprecedented assault on American constitutional order rather than a medical issue. “ (Google/ AI)
Tsk tsk.
Where’s the pity for Trump?
DeleteWhere are the apologies from the numbskull commenters who claim Somerby is a Trump supporter?
DeleteHopefully, they are hiding with Somerby's posts regarding the Epstein Files, so we never have to hear from them.
DeleteGood one! Somerby is obligated to discuss every issue you think he should! Because you're his editor!
DeleteWho said anything about somerby being obligated?
DeleteHoward Nutlick is telling reporters the $5K dividend would not come "from the deficit."
ReplyDeleteSo the federal govt. would be able to pay out an additional $1 trillion+ without it adding to the deficit. This proposition has two corollaries:
1) the payments would not be recorded on the standard general ledger, but instead on a special ledger Scott Bessent will sprinkle with fairy dust;
2) it is impossible to insult the intelligence of a Trump supporter.
“Don’t let Obama buy the election by handing out unlimited free money to states.” - 10/30/12 tweet by Donald Trump
ReplyDeleteWe must pity the most powerful scumbag on earth. We must never pity any liberal, even if they are victims of that scumbag. Trump’s victims must offer pity to their tormentor. After all, it’s the only way to win elections. Did you hear that republicans never shoot democrats, only vice versa? That Democrats are evil, and the only proper vote for a Christian is for the gop, and he who stands at the right hand of god, Jesus, I mean Donald Trump? God bless his corruption, he cannot help it, it is his mental illness that allows him to corruptly rack up millions.
ReplyDelete@David in California: What do you think of Trump's new $5,000 promise? Do you think he'll deliver if Republicans win?
ReplyDeleteQuaker - probably not. Alas Trump himself would probably do it. But, it would require nearly unanimous support from Congressional Reps. I think there are enough courageous Reps in Congress to defeat it.
DeleteTrump says he doesn’t need congressional approval. There are zero courageous republicans in Congress. It is a cult, and you’re in it.
Delete“Alas Trump would probably do it.” Said with the assurance of a MAGA who has never seen Trump do anything like it.
DeleteFor $1-5 million , preferably in Bitcoin, Trump would get it done.
DeleteI believe that once a democracy allows the government to give money to voters, that democracy is doomed. Candidates will compete by offering ever larger and more unaffordable bribes to voters. We are already on that path, with no escape that I can see.
DeleteIMO Trump's offer will not be fulfilled. However, just by making this ridiculous offer, Trump pushed the country farther along on the road to Hell. For almost a century, Dem won elections by giving more and more money to voters: Social Security, Medicare, ever increasing types of welfare, etc. Now, Trump has announced that Republican are playing the same game. Doom is not far off. Stein's Law is inexorable. “If something cannot go on forever, it will stop.”
@12:41 - Trump made some fiscally unsound promises during his campaigns and did indeed fulfill them. Two, which are not the biggest, but which IMO are particularly unjustifiable, are No Tax on Tips and No Tax On Overtime. There's no logical reason why those sorts of earnings should escape taxation. Of course, his entire tax cut was unaffordable.
DeleteTrump made some crazy promises and that’s why I crawled naked thru a Paris sewer to vote for him 3 times.
DeleteI am DiC, a fucking racist imbecile . Peace.
Fortunately the war is going well and will not have any impact on the deficit nor domestic spending that makes people's lives better. As time goes on and the MAGAts are forced to ignore the ever more obvious about Trump and his policies, they look more and more ludicrous in their entrenched mode.
Delete"...just by making this ridiculous offer, Trump pushed the country farther along on the road to Hell."
DeleteDo you think he is doing other things that push the country back from the ledge?
Just this week at his midterm convention, he asked supporters to promise to "cheat like hell" because he believes "the other side does." Do you think this is also damaging to democracy?
Fair point, Quaker. Trump's words have many flaws and faults. And, his personal behavior is often offensive.
DeleteOTOH he has some vital accomplishments. Merit-based hiring and promotion throughout the government and the military. The importance of this action cannot be overstated. It's virtually incalculable, because it improved every government department and every military action.
Severely restricting illegal immigration and expelling millions of illegal immigrants. This particularly improved the lives of lower class Americans. I freed up classroom space and social services and housing.
His efforts against Iran stirred up a lot of trouble in the middle east, but IMO the trouble was brewing silently. At least, we are now actively opposing the forces of evil there.
You know exactly zero about the qualifications or lack thereof of the officers fired by Hegseth and Trump. That they are commonly black or female feeds into your innate prejudices. You know of the qualifications of one military hire, however, who like many in Trump’s cabinet have as their defining career histories, work on Fox. You pretend to espouse meritocracy. Nothing about Trump’s orbiters reflects that he gives a shit about that. Your posts are hilarious in their ignorance.
DeleteFascinating how the “forces of evil” exclude a Zionist war criminal whose IDF supports the killing and expulsion of West Bank Palestinians from their homes.
DeleteListen, @6:32, if you read my comments here, you know my biggest idol -- the person I quote the most -- is a black man. You know my cousin Lizzie is a brilliant author, and I am proud of her. (Her new book will finally be out soon.) Race is irrelevant. Every person is an individual.
DeleteBut, it's almost a tautology. When people are hired and promoted for reasons other than merit, these people will not perform as well as those who are are chosen for merit. Choosing people for merit yields the most meritorious people.
What Hegseth has been trying to do is to convert the military to a merit-based organization. This is an enormous change. Two years ago, promoting blacks and women was an essential part of an officer's job. All of a sudden, that behavior is dereliction of duty.
I only hope that Hegeth's good work will not be reversed by the next President.
Peter Navarro says Suzanne Scott should be fired.
ReplyDelete