11/07/23
Good morning! It’s Tuesday, November 7th.
Election Day!
I’ll talk more about what elections are happening today, but in the meantime… why do we have elections on the 1st Tuesday after the 1st Monday in November?
Farmers! At the time the date was set, way back in the mid-1800s, farmers made up the majority of the workforce. Early November was a great time to vote because the weather was mild but the harvest was over. Wednesday was market day, Sunday was church day, a day of travel had to be accounted for… so Tuesday became the defacto day to cast that sweet, sweet ballot.
And now, the news.
Israel-Hamas War
We start, of course, with the Israel-Hamas war, where Israel says they have “completed our encirclement” of Gaza.
Yikes.
So what that means, is that Israeli Defense Forces have basically split Gaza in half, cutting the north end of Gaza off from the rest of the area. And then they proceeded to just pound it with airstrikes ahead of an expected ground battle.
And those airstrikes include, yes, the terrorist group Hamas, but also displaced people sheltering in UN facilities.
This is expected to bring an uptick in the violence, which is a hard thing to wrap your head around when you also hear that, on Monday, Gaza’s health ministry said that Palestinian deaths have passed 10,000, and several hundred thousand people are believed to still be in the northern area of Gaza.
Elijah McClain’s Officers Acquitted
-via ABC News
The officer who was accused of putting 23-year-old Elijah McClain in a chokehold, ignoring his pleas for help, became the second officer to be found not guilty for his 2019 death. As a reminder, McClain, was simply walking home when someone called the police because he looked sketchy in a ski mask and waving his arms.
To be clear – Elijah had not committed any crimes.
After being put in a chokehold, he vomited, then apologized. He apologized. To the people choking him. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to do that, I can’t breathe correctly.”
Today’s ruling put the blame for his death on the EMTs who administered the ketamine, that they save was the reason for the 23-year-old’s heart attack.
So that’s two police officers who get to continue being officers.
Highland Park Shooter’s Dad Guilty
-via CBS Chicago
Robert Crimo Jr., the father of the shooter in last year’s fourth of July shooting in Highland Park, Illinois that left seven people dead and 48 injured, accepted a plea deal hours before the trial and will serve 60-days in jail, followed by 2 years of probation and 100 hours of community service.
He also has to give up any weapons he owns.
It’s a rare case against the parent of a mass shooter, and came because he helped his son get his gun permit even though he knew that his son had threatened violence in the past. Prosecutors are hoping this case helps send a message that parents are responsible for letting their kids have access to guns.
To quote Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly "You may not be the person pulling the trigger, you may not be the person with the firearm, but you could be held accountable for that conduct.”
The Meadows Hour
-via AP News
Listen, we’re gonna get into the absolutely bananas day Trump had in court, but first… The Meadows Hour.
Marky Meads is being sued by his book publisher because he wrote that the election was stolen in his book, but then when the law came a knockin, he real quick remembered the truth. And now his book publisher’s like… whoa dude. Weren’t you supposed to tell us the truth too?
And so it’s just funny. But it’s also a little on the publisher for thinking Mark Meadows would tell them the truth.
No real winners there.
In some ways, we are the only winners… the people who would never buy this book, but still get to make fun of all involved.
We bully the bullies.
Trump Crime Update Time
-via NY Times
And of course
Trump Crime Update Time
(Did anyone ever tell him that not talking is, in fact, an option? Edition)
Trump took the stand in his New York money crimes case and it was an absolute mess of his own making. Trump did all his little speeches and at first the judge tried to stop them, at one point he told Trump’s lawyers to “control your client” and then eventually he just let him talk, and then dismissed them.
Let’s play the hits! And by hits I mean… yikes. Let’s play the yikes!
Referring to DA Tish James he said, “You believe this political hack back there and that’s unfortunate.”
At one point, he thought he nailed it with this line: “The fraud is on the court, not on me.”
And of course, the classic: “This is a very unfair trial. Very, very and I hope the public is watching.” Oh… we are.
Also, he continues to infuriate the judge, clearly either unaware or uncaring this is a non-jury trial, per his own lawyer, so the judge is the one who makes the decisions here.
I’m no expert but… I think Trump’s gonna find himself in a lotta trouble, once the judge is ready to rule.
He also, when asked if he was involved in the randomly changing square footage filings, he said, “probably.”
I mean, it was just a mess. Dude’s a mess. Don’t election him again.
Election Day
-via Raising Voters
And finally – hey, it’s Election Day all over the country! If you live in… Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachussetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, or Washington
Head to raisingvoters.org and see if you have an election today. Ya might!
Tomorrow I’ll have results. Not today though. Because these elections are not settled yet. Polls don’t decide elections, voters do.
And that’s it. That’s the news!
I’m proud of voters! Duh. It’s also National Bittersweet Chocolate with Almonds Day. But more than that, because you also love specificity… I’m proud of you.