An Ask for Facebook Users

I’m not on Facebook; never have been. I do order from Penzey’s, and because of that, I get their emails, which are awesome. Here is the body of today’s email with links, and another shout-out to any Facebook users who are called to help out with this. And, I think anyone in a position to share in some fashion is welcome to do so!

(Here should be a photo of a veteran who may be the subject of this. I’m sorry it won’t post.)
ย 
ย This really isnโ€™t a standard email, itโ€™s a Facebook post sent by email. But with one week to go and everything seemingly all tied up, sharing a glimpse of our past thatโ€™s at risk of becoming our future seems right. Please read and share.Thanks.

October 25, 2024 George Mullins voted. June 6, 1944 George came ashore in Normandy. He voted by mail. He insisted that the ballot needed to be taken to the post office and handed directly to the postal worker. โ€œCanโ€™t take any chances in these times.โ€

It was LST #311 that brought him 100 yards from the shore of Utah Beach on D-Day. The water was cold and up to his neck. He kept an eye on the shorter soldiers to make sure their heavy packs would not drag them under. Together they all made it ashore. So many of those George went ashore with never made it home.

George Mullins lived through the unfathomable violence it took to face down fascism. He made it home but left so much behind. Forever since he has had to carry a hurt and a loss that thankfully most of us have never known.

His experience has left him with thoughts on this election and about those who would once again intentionally unleash the unspeakable horrors he had hoped were forever in the past.

Two weeks ago George posted his thoughts onย his Facebook pageย for the book he wrote of his WWII experience,ย Foxhole.

Buy his book, I highly recommend it.

As is the nature of Facebook, and social media, and the times we live in, one of the most valuable pieces that will ever be written about this election now sits there with just 72 likes.

Georgeโ€™s daughter and longtime Penzeys customer, Sheila, wrote hinting that maybe I could bring more attention to his words. Yes. A very big Yes. Coincidentally enough (if there are coincidences) his were exactly the words I was then searching for.

Not eight hours before Sheilaโ€™s email arrived I had just finished rewatching Spielbergโ€™sย Saving Private Ryan. Iโ€™m convinced it is in the unspeakable sacrifice of so many Americans eighty years ago where the key to understanding just how much is at stake on 11.5.24 lives or dies.

But where to find the words? I looked toย Saving Private Ryanย because Spielberg has good words, and there are good words there but his, like mine, are of an outsider looking in. Where could I find the words I needed? And as fate would have it they arrived all tied neatly with a bow and accompanied by a breathtaking photo.

And I wonโ€™t give away all George Mullinsโ€™s words, please read all of them for yourself. But in short, today he is deeply troubled by the direction he sees our country heading.

โ€œI didnโ€™t fight in World War II, standing on the front lines of history, so that we could one day find our country on the brink of dictatorship or authoritarian rule. The freedoms I defended, and believe in, the sacrifices my comrades and I made, were for the preservation of democracyโ€”of freedom, fairness, and the right to live without fear of tyranny.โ€

Thereโ€™s so much we take for granted, but all that George and those he fought alongside achieved came at a terrible cost. And as much as we know words like fascism, and Nazi, and even freedom, how much do we really understand this is about the difference between living free and having to live in fear of your government?

By 1944 everyone understood, but today itโ€™s something weโ€™ve forgotten, something we take for granted. George Mullins went ashore shoulder to shoulder with men like him willing to give their lives so that others may live free. Let that sink in.

And now the leaders of the Republican party are not only throwing that sacrifice away, they are forcing our children to relive it. Why? Because they donโ€™t have the strength to stand up to Donald Trumpโ€™s never-ending need for ever greater power. We must do better. We must share George Mullinsโ€™s warning.
(snip; an offer I’m not sure is appropriate to include here, but I can put it in comments if someone’s interested. I’m trying to stay on topic, without appearing to advertise, though advertisement is not the author’s intent. -A)

And two outstanding Steven Spielberg words.ย Iโ€™ve seenย Saving Private Ryanย several times since its release. Each time Iโ€™ve seen something new in it. This time I was struck by Tom Hanksโ€™s Captain Millerโ€™s words to Matt Damonโ€™s Ryan. โ€œEarn this.โ€

This time against the backdrop of this election it hit home more than before that these two words werenโ€™t between two people but between all those who gave so much and all of us who have lived our lives with the gifts their terrible sacrifice brought. Earn this. We truly do owe them that much.

And I did ask Georgeโ€™s daughter Sheila about what was going through his mind as he cast his vote in this election. She asked him over dinner. He told her this:
“When I voted I felt happy to place my signature on a ballot against the Dictator. I was hoping more people wake up and check the right box.โ€

That one of those white men struggling ashore on the 6th of June so many years ago should live to vote for Americaโ€™s first Black woman President is a testament to this country and to all who serve.

And I admit that at first I felt uncomfortable with Georgeโ€™s word Dictator. It felt over the top. But then it set in that he is the one who knows, not me.

He is the one with the knowledge, and the experience, and the words we all must learn if we are to go through what his generation went through and re-emerge once again as America on the other side.

So much to earn. So much at stake. Please help us help George Mullins’s message reach everyone while it can still make a difference.

And please visitย Georgeโ€™s Facebook pageย and share a like, a hug, or even a heart. He has already earned it and so much more. What a life.

Time for us to be worthy,
Bill
bill@penzeys.comย 

Only The Decent People Can Save Us (Again) by Oliver Willis

Decency Is On The Ballot Read on Substack

(Plus Kal El bonus at the bottom.-A)

In the last few decades, we have been witness to systematic failures in American life. Time and time again the guardrails we believed existed turned out to be illusions, or at best, guardrails without any teeth. The courts, the financial institutions, the legislators, and especially the media โ€“ entrusted as the watchdogs of democracy โ€“ have absolutely failed.

There is only one group that, more often than not, has been up to the task: The people. The people keep showing up and at the very least, voting to put people in charge to clean up the messes. Of course, once those people are in office they too often respond with timidity and reluctance and donโ€™t go as far as necessary to exercise the mandate they have been given, but the people did their jobs.

In every presidential election since 1988, with the exception of 2004, a plurality or majority of the public voted for the Democratic candidate. That is a data point you rarely see repeated and I am quite certain that if it was Republicans with such a popular vote winning streak both the party and the media would never shut up about it. That is a triumph of decency. It would be easy for voters to be snowed under by the rightโ€™s avalanche of lies and hate, ably amplified by their buck-chasing friends in the press, but the voters keep seeing through it.

To be certain, there are structural barriers. Neither Al Gore nor Hillary Clinton became president even though the will of the American people said they should have been. And the presidencies of Bill Clinton, Obama, and Biden have had too many missed opportunities to push the ball forward, even though all three of these men had mandates to go quite far.

But what matters is that enough voters saw through the haze of absolute bullshit to send a message to do the right thing.

Here we are again. The Republican Party has always glowed bright with a hateful intensity, but Trump has allowed them to move that hate from Mitt Romneyโ€™s โ€œquiet roomsโ€ to spotlights like Madison Square Garden. The press and the oligarchs that own it at institutions like The New York Times, the Washington Post, the L.A. Times, CNN and others, are quite happy to make billions of dollars from GOP fueled hate, as long as they can make a buck. They just donโ€™t care about the consequences.

Voters still care. It may be naรฏve or cringe, or corny, but they believe. Voters have shown us that a majority of them are opposed to hate, opposed to racism, opposed to misogyny, opposed to treating people as second class based on their orientation. And a majority of them are pro-decency.

Yes, most of the pro-decency vote has a liberal ideology but it is more than that. There are people who just donโ€™t like being crude bigots that spend all of their time shoving the faces of the vulnerable into the dirt. There are more of us than there are of them, and they have to effectively cheat or rig the rules to overcome our numbers.

Decency is on the march, but we are at a breaking point, again. Election day or week is not a โ€œfever breakโ€ moment. No matter the outcome, but especially if decency is victorious again, we cannot go to sleep. The bad boss at the end of the game has not been defeated. 2004 showed us that. 2008 showed us that. 2012. 2016. 2020. The forces of darkness and depravity do not respect the will of the people and if you retreat, expecting that everyone will finally accept the supremacy of decency โ€“ the other side will see that as an opening.

The decent people need to stand up for what they believe in and then keep standing, keep pushing back, until the other people are broken โ€“ and then decency most continue to advance and remain forever vigilant.

I voted for decency, and I always will. I know Iโ€™m not alone.

If you like this newsletter, please consider becoming a paying subscriber by clicking here to join. I wonโ€™t be putting any of my regular columns behind a paywall and they will always be free. Thanks to everyone who has subscribed so far!

โ€” Oliver

Follow me, Oliver Willis, on Threads @owillis1977

Exclusive Kal-El Photo

Kal once again shows how excited he is to work by my side.

Mel Manuel, Trans Candidate for U.S. House, Injected T on Camera in a Campaign Ad

Manuel is running on a platform of abortion rights, universal healthcare, and gun control.

BY SAMANTHA RIEDEL

(Way to go-run for office! Especially in and as opposition to people like Steve Scalise-A)

A trans nonbinary Louisiana candidate for the U.S. House released a defiant campaign video this week, showing themself injecting testosterone to defend bodily autonomy.

Mel Manuel, who is running to unseat far-right House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, released the video on social media platforms on Tuesday. In the video, Manuel called on voters to โ€œtake a standโ€ while performing a routine testosterone injection.

โ€œI believe that you, not the government, own your own body,โ€ Manuel told viewers, wearing a โ€œMy Body My Choiceโ€ T-shirt. โ€œLGBTQ+ rights are human rights.โ€

Manuel, who is running on a platform of abortion rights, universal healthcare, and gun control, highlighted a recent analysis that found Republicans had spent more than $65 million in anti-trans advertisements since the start of August. They also promoted Louisianaโ€™s โ€œGeaux Voteโ€ app, which allows voters to find their polling location and get ballot information.

โ€œTo my LGBTQ+ family and our alliesโ€ฆ No one is coming to save us,โ€ Manuel wrote in the video description. โ€œWe have to show up at the polls for ourselves and for those we love. Iโ€™ve spent the last year and a half campaigning because we need to speak up and be represented before itโ€™s too late. You can speak up now with your vote.โ€

Manuel is the cofounder of Queer Northshore, an LGBTQ+ activist organization based in St. Tammany Parish, and has previously organized against conservative book bans and anti-trans laws in the state. In contrast, Scalise has earned a reputation as a staunchly anti-LGBTQ+ Republican since first taking office in 2008, voting against the Byrd-Shepard Hate Crime Prevention Act, the repeal of Donโ€™t Ask, Donโ€™t Tell, and the Respect for Marriage Act; he is also firmly anti-trans, condemning โ€œthe left’s radical gender ideologyโ€ in a 2022 statement calling for trans girls to be banned from school sports. Scalise even once described himself as โ€œDavid Duke without the baggage,โ€ referring to the infamous former leader of the Ku Klux Klan.

Given that Manuel is running in opposition toย all that, injecting T on camera is a pretty big flex. Still, that doesnโ€™t necessarily mean they expect to win; as their campaign website notes, Manuelโ€™s goal is simply to get 35% of the vote. โ€œEven if your candidate doesnโ€™t win, if we can move the needle to 35 percent or 40 percent of the vote, that means the next progressive candidate will get more funding,โ€ they explained toย The Nationย last year. โ€œThereโ€™s a very, very small chance at winning, and I understand that, but we can still use the role of candidacy as a platform in and of itself.โ€

https://www.them.us/story/mel-manuel-campaign-ad-injection-testosterone

we could all use a Good News Tuesday by Jeff Tiedrich

(More good news, after Scottie’s video, as to the early voting news! Blue language alert, so no reading until you’re not somewhere the f-word is not acceptable. Else scroll just a bit, because of course the first sentence is joyous and contains the f-word. Also, italicized script beneath the suns are by the author, Jeff Tiedrich.)

Kamalaโ€™s up and Donnyโ€™s down Read on Substack

LA LA LA LA no reading here if you’re at work,

LA LA LA LA no reading here if you’re at work.

LA LA LA LA no reading here if you’re at work,

LA LA LA LA no reading here if you’re at work!

๐ŸŒž ๐ŸŒž ๐ŸŒž ๐ŸŒž ๐ŸŒž

Okay. Next line,

fuck this fucking nail-biter of an election. good news is out there โ€” letโ€™s have a look.

undecideds are deciding โ€” and theyโ€™re breaking towards Kamala Harris.

A majority of voters (80%) say they made up their minds about which candidate to support over a month ago, while 11% made up their minds in the last month, 6% made up their minds in the past week, and 3% still have not made up their mind. 

โ€œVoters who made their decision on who to support over a month ago break for Trump, 52% to 48%, while voters who made up their mind in the last month or week break for Harris, 60% to 36%,โ€ Kimball said. โ€œThe three percent of voters who said they could still change their mind currently favor Harris, 48% to 43%.โ€

I know, right? who could be undecided in a race thatโ€™s basically everyone gets a puppy vs diarrhea forever?

but there are huge swaths of votes who just donโ€™t pay attention to politics until the very last minute โ€” and now that theyโ€™re finally tuned in, itโ€™s dawning on them that wait, one of the candidates is ass-spraying mayhem? oh, fuck that shit.

think back to 1980. polling showed the race was a dead heat โ€” but in the final weeks, just about every goddamned undecided broke towards Reagan, and what looked like a nail-biter ended up being a blowout.

this year, however, it looks like the fence-sitters are doing the right thing.


hang on, you need some more good polling news? fine, be that way.

Kamala leads dong-obsessed fry chef Donny Convict in favorability by 11 percentage points, while 58% of registered voters fucking loathe Donny.

The nationwide poll, conducted last week, found Harrisโ€™s favorability to be significantly higher than Trumpโ€™s, with 51 percent of registered voters viewing Harris as a favorable candidate compared to just 40 percent who felt the same about Trump. Independent voters, notably, were equally split on their opinions of Harris, while the majority of independent votersโ€”58 percentโ€”felt negatively about Trump.

donโ€™t forget that this is going to be the first post-Roe national election.

But perhaps no Democratic stance resonated more with voters than abortion, which saw Harris lead Trump by 23 percent.

reproductive rights continues to be a losing issue for Donny, and heโ€™s still bragging about being the guy who shitcanned Roe.


Donny is being abandoned by his base.

white folks who never went to college have long been Donnyโ€™s most hardcore cultists โ€” but this year they seem to be suffering from Dear Leader Fatigue.

hereโ€™s CNNโ€™s Harry Enten to explain.

โ€œitโ€™s been a key demographic for him โ€” his base. and this is whatโ€™s so interesting โ€ฆ in fact, itโ€™s moving away from him. this is Trumpโ€™s margin with non-college white voters. this group is not moving towards him. itโ€™s moving slightly away. go back eight years ago, he won it by 33. you go back four years ago, he won it be 31. now we see heโ€™s only up by 27.โ€

Donnyโ€™s losing the people who have been filing out of his hate-rallies early.

after a half hour of listening to him drone on about sharks and batteries and Hannibal Lecter wants to have you for dinner, they turn to their spouse and say Lurleen, letโ€™s go home and see if NASCARโ€™s on TV.

plus-27 is still a fuck-ton of support from Donnyโ€™s base โ€” but in a close election, he canโ€™t afford to lose the additional 6% who voted for him in 2016. these people may never vote for Komrade Kamala, but enough of them may stay home on election day to make a difference.

weโ€™re all worried about post-election fuckery, but letโ€™s not forget that nearly all swing state governors are Democrats.

hereโ€™s WaPoโ€™s Jennifer Rubin to talk us all down off that ledge.

Constitutional expert Richard H. Pildes reminded us that scenarios involving mischief by governors are unlikely. โ€œIn nearly all the swing states, the governors are Democrats, who are hardly going to be receptive to any entreaties by Trump,โ€ he wrote. Even in Georgia, Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, both Republicans, โ€œhave done as much under fire as any political officials to prove their commitment to certifying an accurate, lawful count.โ€ And although a few local boards might refuse to certify, there are remedies in court. (A Georgia court recently rejected the notion that officials could refuse to certify results.)

and, on that note, some Arizona dipshit who thought she could fuck around with certifying her stateโ€™s 2022 senate race is now learning that finding out truly sucks.

An Arizona County elections official has agreed to plead guilty after she refused to certify the 2022 election in which Kari Lake lost to Katie Hobbs.

The Washington Post reported Monday that Peggy Judd, who helps lead Cochise County southeast of Phoenix, was indicted last year for allegedly โ€œflouting the stateโ€™s deadlinesโ€ for the 2022 election certification.

actions, consequences. itโ€™s nice when things work out in that order.


Jill Stein might be hurting Donny this year.

perpetual Kremlin dinner guest Jill Stein is like some fucked-up asteroid. every four years, her weird-ass orbit swings her too close to the Earth, and she ends up dicking with the tides and screwing with our electoral magnetic field.

Jillyโ€™s back, but a new poll apparently indicates that this year, sheโ€™s taking away votes from Donny.

A new poll suggests that Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein is drawing more voters from former President Donald Trump than from Vice President Kamala Harris.

The poll shows Harris leading Trump 49 percent to 47 percent. However, with Stein in the race, Trump’s support dips to 46 percent, while Harris maintains her 49 percent backing, suggesting that Stein draws more support from Trump than from Harris. Though Stein’s voter base remains relatively small, at about 1 percent, it could prove crucial in an election that hinges on tight margins in swing states.


the five innocent and exonerated black men known as the Central Park Five are suing Donny for defamation.

The five men who make up the Central Park Five and now call themselves the Exonerated Five have filed a defamation lawsuit against Donald Trump over his remarks during the presidential debate last month.

During the debate he said: “They admitted โ€” they said, they pled guilty. And I said, well, if they pled guilty they badly hurt a person, killed a person ultimately. And if they pled guilty โ€” then they pled weโ€™re not guilty.”

At the time of the trials, each had pleaded not guilty, and the victim of the attack survived.

ok, this one is not election-related news โ€” but it still makes me laugh to see Donny get served another big, fat slice of Justice Pie.


Donny continues to be an increasingly-deteriorating imbecile.

โ€œitโ€™s as big a waterโ€” yโ€™know, itโ€™s as big a water-storm, they say, as weโ€™ve ever seen.โ€

โ€˜water-storm?โ€™ the word is hurricane, you decompensating dotard.

Alexa, whatโ€™s aphasia?

Aphasia is a language disorder that affects how you communicate. It’s caused by damage in the area of the brain that controls language expression and comprehension. Aphasia leaves a person unable to communicate effectively with others.

Alexa, can aphasia be a sign of dementia?

what the fuck do you think?


so, thereโ€™s lots of good news all around โ€” but as a commenter under yesterdayโ€™s post said, โ€œwe still have to fight like weโ€™re ten points down.โ€ that person is exactly right. we donโ€™t have the luxury of complacency. thatโ€™s how we fucked it up in 2016 โ€” we all thought Hillaryโ€™s got this in the bag, and so we blew up the balloons and popped the champagne way too early, and too many of us decided it was totes okay stay home on election day. after all, Nate Silver promised us that Hillary had a 99% chance of victory, right? but polls donโ€™t vote โ€” people do.

this year, we all understand the assignment.

Kamala understands the assignment, too. unlike the email lady in 2016, Kamala and Uncle Tim are hitting all the swing states. meanwhile, Donny Convict is squandering his time doing vanity rallies in places like California and New York โ€” states he hasnโ€™t a snowballโ€™s chance of winning.

14 days to the election. if we vote, we win.

This Is Very Seriously A Big Deal: Pro-Trump dark money network tied to Elon Musk behind fake pro-Harris campaign scheme

An initiative called Progress 2028 that purports to be Kamala Harrisโ€™ liberal counter to the conservative Heritage Foundationโ€™s Project 2025 is actually run by a dark money network supporting former President Donald Trump.

Building Americaโ€™s Future, the dark money group at the helm of the network, has steered money to a constellation of groups and initiatives boosting Trumpโ€™s agenda and spreading messaging aimed at chipping away voters from Harris. The dark money group reportedly received over $100 million in funding from billionaire Elon Musk, along with other donors, the New York Times recently reported

The newest effort to benefit from their largesse is Progress 2028. Building Americaโ€™s Future registered to use Progress 2028 as a fictitious name on Sept. 23 and the website was created three days later, OpenSecretsโ€™ analysis of corporate filings and DNS records found. 

The Progress 2028 site appears to be created by IMGE LLC, a firm run by Republican political operatives that the New York Times described as the โ€œhidden handโ€ behind Building Americaโ€™s Future, and a page on the Progress 2028 site includes the firmโ€™s sizzle reel. 

IMGE LLC has also done work for Elon Muskโ€™s America PAC and several other Republican political committees, including a super PAC funded by Americaโ€™s Future Fund named Future Coalition PAC, as first pointed out by Brendan Fischer, Deputy Executive Director of Documented, an investigative watchdog and journalism project.

The Progress 2028 manifesto draws clear parallels to Project 2025, a controversial blueprint for restructuring the executive branch under the next Republican administration. The Project 2025 blueprint was developed by the Heritage Foundation and written by many conservatives who worked in or with Trumpโ€™s administration. Project 2025 has drawn intense criticism, and the former president has said it does not reflect his own priorities should he return to the White House.

Some of the policies listed in Progress 2028 highlight disproven and misleading claims about Harrisโ€™ positions. Policies listed include โ€œEmpowering Undocumented Immigrants, Building Our Futureโ€ and โ€œExpanding Medicaid to Undocumented Immigrants.โ€

โ€œUndocumented immigrants are the backbone of our country, and by removing barriers, we unlock incredible potential,โ€ the document states. โ€œKamala Harris believes that every person, no matter their immigration status, deserves access to basic healthcare.โ€

Harris expressed support for allowing immigrants residing in the U.S. to obtain health insurance with her 2019 Medicare for All plan but did not indicate whether there would be a cost. Her 2024 running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, recently said that Harris does not currently support programs for undocumented immigrants to qualify for free government health care, free tuition at state universities or driverโ€™s licenses.

The document claims Harris will โ€œsupport policies that protect minorsโ€™ access to gender-affirming care and ensure that schools provide comprehensive LGBTQIA education.โ€ 

โ€œSheโ€™s committed to banning fracking, phasing out internal combustion engines, and rolling out the most progressive Green New Deal yet,โ€ another section of the Progress 2028 plan reads. Harris has explicitly stated that she wonโ€™t ban fracking natural gas but her campaign has sent mixed signals about her own position on regulation of gas-powered cars.

Some individuals have received text messages directing them to the Progress 2028 page. 

โ€œKamala Harris will support a nationwide gun buy-back program that will take dangerous weapons off our streets,โ€ one text message reads, noting, โ€œA mandatory buy-back is the only way to keep our streets safe.โ€ Harris expressed support for a mandatory buyback of military assault weapons in 2019 but has expressed a more lenient stance in 2024, highlighting her own gun ownership. 

(snip-graphics on the page)

Digital advertisement featuring Kamala Harris paid for by Progress 2028 (Screenshot from Meta Ad Library)

Progress 2028 has also started pouring money into digital advertising. Since Oct. 11, several digital ads on Facebook and Instagram have included the disclaimer โ€œpaid for by Progress 2028โ€ โ€” totaling over $36,000 in ad buys over just five days.

While the ads appear to include pro-Harris messaging, they lean into contentious issues listed on the Progress 2028 site that have created friction among different divisions of the party. 

โ€œLetโ€™s remove barriers for undocumented immigrants who are undocumented!โ€ one ad states, adding, โ€œAccess to affordable housing, driver licenses, and fair wages creates a stronger America for everyone.โ€

Another ad reads, โ€œA national, mandatory buy-back program means fewer guns & fewer tragedies. Kamala Harris gets it!โ€

Operating under a shroud of aliases, Building Americaโ€™s Future has funneled tens of millions of dollars in dark money from anonymous sources into campaigns boosting Trump ahead of the 2024 election. The dark money network also has a history of fueling initiatives impersonating and parodying Democrats. 

Building Americaโ€™s Future is the top funder of Citizens for Sanity, a dark money group that bankrolled inflammatory ads mocking Democrats and progressive policies in battleground states ahead of 2022 midterms, tax returns show. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Elon Musk secretly steered tens of millions of dollars through Building Americaโ€™s Future to help fund the effort. 

Citizens for Sanity spent over $90 million on messaging pitting minority communities against each other and chipping away at traditionally Democratic voting blocs. 

Similar to Progress 2028, the ads hit on contentious issues such as LGBTQ+ rights, immigration and criminal justice reform. The ads have been accused of trying to suppress voting among minority communities.

(snip-embed video on the page)

Citizens for Sanity does not disclose its donors but other groups were legally required to report money they gave to it. That includes $43 million from Building AmerIcaโ€™s Future as well as $28.7 million from Freedomโ€™s Future Fund, a sister group of Building Americaโ€™s Future, and $13.4 million from American Commitment.

The many faces of Building Americaโ€™s Future

Building Americaโ€™s Future has also fueled other pro-Trump groups and was the sole funder of the Future Coalition PAC, new Federal Election Commission records filed Oct. 15 show.

The super PAC that has run ads targeting Harris in Michigan by highlighting her positions that are pro-Israel and the Jewish faith of her spouse, Doug Emhoff. The ads are reported to be pro-Harris but have been criticized as featuring antisemitic dog whistles. The PAC has been accused of attempting to use the conflict in the Middle East as a wedge issue to depress turnout for Harris in Michigan, a state with a significant Muslim and Arab American population.

Future Coalition PAC reported receiving $3 million from Building Americaโ€™s Future through the end of September.

Another $16 million was steered through Building Americaโ€™s Future to Duty to America PAC, according to new FEC disclosures filed Oct. 15. The super PAC has targeted young male voters and Black voters trying to persuade them to vote for Trump. 

Building Americaโ€™s Future was also the top funder of Stand For Us PAC, OpenSecretsโ€™ analysis of FEC reports filed Oct. 15 found. The super PAC received at least $3.8 million from the dark money group and has spent over $15 million on ads attacking Republican primary candidates in Ohio with divisive messaging tying a prescription drug program to immigration and transgender rights. 

In addition to funding a cluster of political groups, Building Americaโ€™s Future operates under several fictitious names such as Americans for Consumer Protection. 

In August, Americans for Consumer Protection launched an ad campaign criticizing the White Houseโ€™s proposal to ban menthol cigarettes. CNBC reported that the effort was intended to chip away at Harrisโ€™ key base of Black voter support in swing states including Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina and Wisconsin.

Building Americaโ€™s Future reportedly raised and spent more than $100 million over the last four years, the New York Times reported

Building Americaโ€™s Future is not legally required to report its finances, vendor payments or outgoing grants for 2023 until after Election Day and, even then, will not be required to disclose its donors.

OpenSecretsโ€™ requests for comment to Building Americaโ€™s Future and Progress 2028 were not returned prior to publication.

Feel free to distribute or cite this material, but please credit OpenSecrets.
For permission to reprint for commercial uses, such as textbooks, contact OpenSecrets: info@opensecrets.org

https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2024/10/pro-trump-dark-money-network-tied-to-elon-musk-behind-fake-pro-harris-campaign-scheme

Not many this week, but a few good ones. Hugs

Trans Dad Jokes Are The Best

Hail Human Mountain Friend

"So What's In Your Pa-" 401 Unauthorized. Content Forbidden

This Is The Way To Rule The World

Be Gay, Do Crime

Have You Ever

Trans Rights Are Human Rights

Priorities In The USA

To All My Hot Girls Out There!

(Place Title Here)

I Love Leslie Jones

I watched this late in the evening yesterday (it was a hard day,) and it was just what I needed while I was watching. I hope everyone enjoys it, too.

This is perfect.

Flamingo Stink Eye, by Clay Jones

Never surrender to water fowl Read on Substack

(This is really good; a worthy click.)

Shortly after Donald Trump was arrested last year in Fulton County, Georgia on charges related to electoral fraud in the 2020 election, he returned to X/Twitter for the first time since Elmo lifted his ban, and shared his mugshot with the caption, โ€œNever surrender.โ€

Never mind the fact that it was a photo of him surrendering. Republicans are idiots. Merchandise with that image is for sale on his campaignโ€™s website along with merch featuring images from the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Now, Trump will try to make money off this incident of a guy hiding in bushes with an assault rifle. What will they try to sell, pictures of his fat ass being whisked away on a golf cart? He also canโ€™t parade around with a giant bandage from this incident since the bush person not only didnโ€™t hit him with a bullet but didnโ€™t even get a shot off. The potential assassin never even saw Trump.

The mental case was waiting in bushes along the golf course hoping Trump would eventually waddle by.

I got over 1,100 replies to my tweet aboutย Trump being uninjured after not being shot at, and I think all the angry replies wish Trump was shot at so they can push the martyred victim bullshit. (snip-MORE)

Peace & Justice History for 9/10:

September 10, 1897
Nineteen unarmed striking coal miners were killed and 36 more wounded in Lattimer (near Hazleton), Pennsylvania, for refusing to disperse, by a posse organized by the Luzerne County sheriff. The strikers, most of whom were shot in the back, were originally brought in as strike-breakers, but later created their own union.ย The background and detailsย 
September 10,ย 1963
Twenty black students entered public schools in Birmingham, Tuskegee and Mobile, Alabama. The Governor George C. Wallace had ordered Alabama state troopers to stop the federal court-ordered integration of Alabamaโ€™s elementary and high schools. Presidentย John Kennedy responded by calling out the Alabama National Guard to protect the students and to see the order enforced.
President Kennedy spoke that day at American Universityโ€™s commencement, saying,ย 
“Peace need not be impractical, war not inevitable . . . There is not peace in many of our cities because there is not freedom.”
September 10, 1996
ย 
Sheryl Crow’s second album was banned from Wal-Mart stores because the song she co-wrote with Tad Wadhams, “Love Is A Good Thing” opens with
โ€œWatch out sister, watch out brother,
Watch our children while they kill each other
With a gun they bought at Wal-Mart discount stores….โ€

Read more about this eventย ย ย and an update

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistoryseptember.htm#september10