Last night, on the 21st of September,      
Donald Trump spoke to Fox News host Sean Hannity:

Trump: "There's a lot of speculation because of the severity of the FBI raiding Mar-a-Lago, were they looking for the Hillary Clinton emails that were deleted, but they are around someplace."

Hannity: "Wait, you're not saying you had the emails."

Trump: "No, they may have thought the Hillary deal was in there."  

     ("Russher if you're        
     (listening      
     (Please hide me      
     (from Tish James"

Question: What's the attraction to conspiracy theories?

Answer: They make stupid people feel smart.

Executive privilege was not designed to shield plotting to overthrow the government.

There are a "lot of moving pieces in the immigration debate. Migrants need safety, the U.S. needs workers, our immigrant-processing systems are understaffed, and our (immigration) laws are outdated. They need real solutions, not political stunts."    
-- Heather Cox Richardson

Republicans would be wise to stop the false advertising.
U.S. borders are not open.    
The claim that borders are open encourages migrants.

Ron DeSantis' use of Florida taxpayer money to fly asylum seekers from Texas via Florida to Martha's Vineyard was a cruel political stunt.

Finally Governor DeSantis is serious about serving Floridians. He's alerted America that he's put his political activity aside in the face of Hurricane Ian. As governor, he should have been serving Florida every day. But, NO! - he's been all about calling attention to himself, positioning himself for a 2024 run for president.

Where was U.S Rep. Ron DeSantis when the U.S. House was debating immigration reform?      
What has he done to be part of the solution as either a U.S. Representative or Governor of Florida?

As Pete Buttigieg said, "It's one thing to call attention to a problem when you have a course of action; it's another thing to just call attention to a problem because the problem is actually more useful to you than the solution and it helps you call attention to yourself."

As a U.S. Rep, Ron DeSantis voted against federal aid following Hurricane Sandy.  
He led a no-government wing of the Republican Party; his ideological narrative was as an anti-Washington conservative who held that people should absorb their own risk and take care of their own lives.        
He'll have to justify changing his political stance and opening up his arms to accept federal assistance from the Biden administration and to work with FEMA for Florida to recover after Hurricane Ian.

As the governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis needs the help of Joe Biden, also Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer. There will be an aid request for Congress to approve - the Florida economy cannot absorb the damage Hurricane Ian wrought in Florida. The federal government will need national Democrats to agree to help Ron DeSantis and his state to recover. Does Ron DeSantis have the grace to do an about face to show gratitude to Democratic leaders? Does Ron DeSantis have the humility to put his shoulder to the wheel to address climate change?

Donald Trump to acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen and acting deputy attorney general Richard Donoghue (per his notes) on a December 27, 2020 phone call: "Just say the election was corrupt and leave the rest to me and the Republican Congressmen."

On January 6, 2021, Nancy Pelosi and Mike Pence, polar opposites on politics worked together on process to keep our government moving forward. We heard their voices on the phone - it was heartening.

Where was Donald Trump? [breaking his oath of office (watching the insurrection on TV)]

There is a toxic coalition of Trump Republicans, their friends at FOX News, MAGA Evangelicals, Election Deniers, White Supremacists, and assorted other groups primed and ready for this election. For some there seems to be no 'bridge too far' - seemingly nothing that could alienate them from their absolute loyalty to Trump. This is scary stuff.

Democratic republics cannot survive without a blend of thoughtful, character driven men and women, on both sides of the aisle, whose primary goal is to genuinely care about the welfare of the entire Republic.

Our democratic republic, the United States of America, is on the ballot in November.      
It's important that we confront this reality and vote wisely, lest we find our country in peril.

"At the last meeting of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol, as Representative Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) showed that former president Trump both recognized that he had lost the election and intended to leave the White House, he noted that on November 11, just four days after Democrat Joe Biden had been declared the winner of the 2020 election, Trump had abruptly ordered U.S. troops to leave Somalia and Afghanistan by January. 15 ... Kinsinger's point was that Trump clearly knew he was leaving office because he was deliberately trying to create chaos for his successor."      
-- Heather Cox Richardson

Withdrawal with a January 15th deadline would result in a disastrous loss of life and instability around the world. Donald Trump could not accept the fact that the American people did not choose him to continue as president; his goal was to create chaos for his successor. The military's "NO" to Trump's January 15th deadline would have been more disastrous than Trump's months later deadline for departure from Afghanistan.

Republicans are doubling down on crime and inflation with no clear policy to overcome either one.

Martin Sheen shares that his time on The West Wing showed him what Washington could be like as a city full of people who are inspiring, hard-working, and dedicated to facing challenges head-on.

Shame on Virginia's Gov Glenn Youngkin who traveled to Arizona to campaign with election denier Kari Lake, and then yesterday, in VA, campaigning for a VA House GOP candidate, joked about sending Nancy Pelosi back to be with her husband in California. "Speaker Pelosi's husband, they had a break-in last night in their house, he was assaulted. There's no room for violence anywhere, but we're going to send her back to be with him in California. That's what we're going to go do."

In simpler times (before Donald Trump), if one or two extreme candidates made it to a general election, it was national news - notoriety often doomed bizarre candidates. The 2022 midterms, however, has 300 election deniers, as well as insurrectionists on general election ballots across the country. There is so much disinformation being peddled, many of these candidates are under the radar without a national spotlight. Too many of these candidates have a shot at winning, and if elected, a real opportunity to wreak havoc.

NO, Governor (Chris) Sununu,        
we can shout too,

Election Denialism is a more immediate and serious problem than inflation and the price of gas. Talk with Ukrainians about priorities and the cold they're suffering. They have a clearer grasp of priorities than you shouting about the cold in New Hampshire. Shame on you.

Protecting our elections is top priority if we want to keep our republic.    
We're living in the midst of a period of global inflation.      
First things first.      
Protecting our elections is critical to the future of our democratic republic.        
I'm with Liz Cheney:            
        Vote for candidates who respect voters        
                     and election results.

Democracy is on the ballot in these midterm elections. 
Beware all the talk of surging red polls.  
Vote for democracy.  
Take your friends and neighbors to the polls.    
Expect that it will take time for the vote to be counted.

"Republicans will never lose another election in Wisconsin after I'm elected governor," said Wisconsin GOP gubernatorial candidate Tm Michels during a campaign event in Jackson County, WI. He has suggested that he could attempt to decertify Wisconsin's results in the 2020 presidential election once he becomes governor.