This is serious and funny and definitely worth a watch:

Brandi Buchman
@Brandi_Buchman
There is a TikTok account for a group called TrumpWords where children quote Trump in videos and the group asks on its site; would you choose Trump as a role model for your kids?

Why Trump's Hannibal Lecter "weave" makes no sense at all:

Acyn
@Acyn
Trump: When I say Doctor Hannibal Lecter, the press says, oh, why did he mention that? They say, he rambled and started talking about Hannibal Lecter. That's a representative of people that are coming into our country. Doctor Hannibal Lecter

Ron Filipkowski
@RonFilipkowski
He could have chosen any fictional character to represent migrants to America. And his view is that the average migrant is a highly intelligent, cultured, cannibalistic serial killer with refined tastes and impeccable manners.

If George Soros didn't exist, it would be necessary for Republicans to invent him (video at link and with apologies to Voltaire):

Ron Filipkowski
@RonFilipkowski
Ron Desantis tonight claims that George Soros is behind FL's abortion rights ballot initiative, and says the all-Republican FL Supreme Court made a "horrendous decision" by allowing it to be on the ballot this November.

PS I'm not saying your empathy is necessarily misplaced. I'm saying for me the verdict is stil out, and I'd like more information.

And now for your moment of Zen and if you don't want to read the lengthy Wasserman interview:

Josh Marshall
@joshtpm
On the plus side, the best predictor of US presidential election outcomes isn't anyone's model or polling averages or keys. It's when Donald Trump starts whining like a little bitch about how the election is being stolen from him. Current level of whining suggests 2-4 pt ...

2/ Harris lead. People forget that way back in the Iowa caucus in 2016 when he lost to Ted Cruz he immediately insisted it was rigged and, if memory serves, insisted the state party chair announce the results were wrong. "Rigged" is Trump's way of saying I lost.

I wanted to hate Colin Gray, but after only reading a couple paragraphs I came to an unmistakable conclusion: Except for the fact this father didn't make a habit of locking down all his weapons as a matter of practice - especially since his son showed obvious troubling signs - Colin was just a single dad trying to deal with a son challenged by mental health issues. Or in other words, a simple father dealing with all the cards life has dealt him in the best way he knows how. . . .
Having said that, I can still see myself in his shoes playing the cards I was dealt, and honestly - knowing how much you want to love and encourage your child when they have mental health struggles - there but for the grace of God,... under similar circumstances, it could have been my child.
#3 | Posted by tonyroma

It seems to me that you identify with Colin Gray, which I suspect is what the officer who interviewed him did as well and which is probably why he took Colin at his word and didn't probe further into the family dynamics and didn't put both Colin and Colt on some sort of follow-up watch list. I understand the father trying to bond with his son over hunting and being proud of his first kill, provided that wasn't the only thing he was proud of him about. I can remember my brother-in-law being proud of my (now grown) nieces when they each shot their first deer, but he was proud of them for many other activities/accomplishments as well. He never had them smear deer's blood on their cheeks to honor the occasion though. Is that some sort of male-bonding ritual in hunting culture I'm unaware of? Could be.

"We don't have to like the reality that we live in, but it is the reality we live in. We've got to deal with it," he said.
"I don't like that this is a fact of life, but if you are a psycho and you want to make headlines, you realise that our schools are soft targets.
"And we have got to bolster security at our schools. We've got to bolster security so if a psycho wants to walk through the front door and kill a bunch of children they're not able."

Here's the thing about soft targets like schools--they are everywhere. Churches are soft targets, synagogues are soft targets, grocery stores are soft targets, nightclubs are soft targets, shopping malls, interstate highways, farm shows, libraries, hospitals, boardwalks, county fairs, your own damn house if you don't have secret service protection. JD seems to think he said something profound and helpful He didn't.
The list of soft targets is endless. That, too, is a fact of life and the reality we now live in, because just like soft targets, guns are everwhere.

I hope the dam has finally broken and that the term "sanewashing" will catch on too describe the way the media has been sanitizing Trump's words for way to long:

This "sanewashing" of Trump's statements isn't just poor journalism; it's a form of misinformation that poses a threat to democracy. By continually reframing Trump's incoherent and often dangerous rhetoric as conventional political discourse, major news outlets are failing in their duty to inform the public and are instead providing cover for increasingly erratic behavior from a former"and potentially future"president.

The consequences of this journalistic malpractice extend far beyond misleading headlines. By laundering Trump's words in this fashion, the media is actively participating in the erosion of our shared reality. When major news outlets consistently present a polished version of Trump's statements, they create an alternate narrative that exists alongside the unfiltered truth available on social media and in unedited footage.

The woman who asked Trump the child care question was not one of the people clapping at his response:

Reshma Saujani
@reshmasaujani
Today I asked @realDonaldTrump what he would do to solve the child care crisis. His response? Incomprehensible at best; at worst, outrageously offensive to the millions of families drowning in costs.

Does Putin know his MAGA audience or what?:

Prominent lawmakers and propagandists on Russian state TV frequently admit that Russia is still interested in propping up "Trumpushka." A phony "endorsement" of Vice President Kamala Harris by Russian President Vladimir Putin was designed to boost Russia's favorite contender--like a previous attempt to smear U.S. President Joe Biden by claiming to support his re-election in his interview with Carlson. At the time, state TV propagandists proudly described this effort to mislead Americans as Putin carefully planted "info-bombs and mines" during his sit-down with Carlson.

After airing a clip with Putin's comments, claiming to support the presidential candidacy of Harris, Solovyov laughed and promised that gullible Americans will believe that Putin was serious.

Shrugging off the pretense and refusing to play along with Putin's charade, Andrey Sidorov, deputy dean of world politics at the Moscow State University, insisted, "I will always root for Trump. Trump is a direct path to civil war in the United States."

How much is an AR-15? Can you buy them on credit?

Looking at the state of the race today, it's going to be close again, peeps:

I see this shaping up to be a very tight race in the Electoral College"regardless of the national popular vote. I think Kamala Harris may be on track, if the election were held next week, for a narrower popular-vote win than Joe Biden, and the Electoral College would be very, very close.

And the House would be close, too?

Yeah, the House is poised to be close. If you really forced me, I'd give Republicans a slight advantage. And the reason is, across the board, we're seeing incumbents do very well in polls of House races, and that includes some of the most vulnerable incumbents in tough districts.

PS I don't really see what difference the full quote makes in this instance. His point is still the same: he views school shootings as a fact of life, and so we need to increase school security to deal with it.

The article used in this thread gives JD's complete quote:

The Republican vice presidential nominee told an audience of supporters in Arizona that "if these psychos are going to go after our kids we've got to be prepared for it".

"We don't have to like the reality that we live in, but it is the reality we live in. We've got to deal with it," he said.

"I don't like that this is a fact of life, but if you are a psycho and you want to make headlines, you realise that our schools are soft targets.

"And we have got to bolster security at our schools. We've got to bolster security so if a psycho wants to walk through the front door and kill a bunch of children they're not able."

The boy's maternal grandfather claimed the father was verbally abusive to both Colt and his mother. I don't know how much validity to put in that claim. Other reports have indicated the mother has had problems with drugs and that the father had a history of back surgeries. One thing for sure: they were a family under stress who were in both emotional and financial distress.

More context with examples of how the press reported on Trump's recent response to a question about affordable child care in contrast with the complete video and transcript of what he actuallly said:

The Press Response to Trump's Word Salad Answer on Childcare is Peak Sanewashing

He rambled for two minutes. You wouldn't know that from a lot of the media coverage.

Only because you agree with the OPINION. It does not deal with facts, only claims. But I get it, you guys and gals will take any life raft in the storm and cling to it as seaworthy.
#23 | Posted by gracieamazed

The article deals with the fact that the MSM sanewash Trump and gives recent examples of them doing just that, so it isn't a matter of a fact-free opinion that I agree with but a well-documented argument backed by examples that I can read and evaulte for myself. Molloy has identified and named a process that we have all been witnessing since Trump entered the presidential race in 2016. That process--and the pro-Trump bias inherent in it--is even more pronounced now that Trump, whose age-related confusion is increasing, is the oldest candidate in the race.

Fraud prevention or dirty tricks? Florida abortion amendment might be under attack again | Opinion

The NR op-ed by Parker Molloy I posted is a first-rate analysis of how the MSM has been sanewashing Trump for years.

Over 800,000 residents in Lee County. Two people were signature verified, maybe (you know the Tampa Tribune and their biases).
Why are democrats and their alias's so afraid of the verification process? I mean, they would never cheat, so what's the problem?
#4 | Posted by gracieamazed

Two people were interviewed, but we don't know how many were--or will be--interviewed as the investigation is apparently just beginning:

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis's administration has begun investigating thousands of verified signatures that helped to put a state constitutional amendment protecting the right to abortion on the ballot in November. The amendment would overturn Florida's current six-week abortion ban.

Petition organizers collected about 100,000 more signatures than they needed, surpassing the 900,000 that are required by the state and ensuring that their policy would be on the ballot. Now the Department of State's spokesperson Ryan Ash claims that his agency has "uncovered evidence of illegal conduct with fraudulent petitions."

Supervisors in Hillsborough, Orange, Palm Beach, Osceola, Alachua, and Broward counties have been requested to gather around 36,000 signatures for state review, according to the Tampa Bay Times. One supervisor with 16 years of experience told the Times that the state's request was entirely unprecedented. Not only had the state requested signatures that had already been verified, but they did so for a validated petition, not a rejected petition, which are typically the basis of fraud investigations.

It's called "sanewashing" and the MSM have been doing it to Trump's benefit and the country's detriment for years:

Four years ago, in an article for Media Matters for America, I warned that journalists were sanitizing Donald Trump's incoherent ramblings to make them more palatable for the average voter. The general practice went like this: The press would take something Trump said or did"for instance, using a visit to the Centers for Disease Control to ask about Fox News's ratings, insult then"Washington Governor Jay Inslee, rant about his attempt to extort Ukraine into digging up dirt on Joe Biden, and downplay the rising number of Covid-19 cases in the U.S."and write them up as The New York Times did: "Trump Says People Have to Remain Calm' Amid Coronavirus Outbreak." This had the effect of making it seem like Trump's words and actions seemed cogent and sensible for the vast majority of Americans who didn't happen to watch his rant live.

Flash-forward to today, and it's clear this problem has only worsened. As Trump's statements grow increasingly unhinged in his old age, major news outlets continue to reframe his words, presenting a dangerously misleading picture to the public. . . .

This "sanewashing" of Trump's statements isn't just poor journalism; it's a form of misinformation that poses a threat to democracy. By continually reframing Trump's incoherent and often dangerous rhetoric as conventional political discourse, major news outlets are failing in their duty to inform the public and are instead providing cover for increasingly erratic behavior from a former"and potentially future"president.

Jesus H. Tony Roma is actually implying that the media treats Harris worse than Trump.
Totally delusional to the point of needing therapy if that is what Tony Roma truly believes.
#45 | Posted by BellRinger

The media treats all Democratic candidates worse than Trump, starting with Clinton and then Biden and now Harris.

The Cheneys are also saying you can vote for the person who you will have the opportunity to vote out in 4 years, or you can vote for the person who intends to destroy democracy by becoming a defacto dictator/king.

Your choice.

Dick Cheney: "In our nation's 248-year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump. He tried to steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power after the voters had rejected him. He can never be trusted with power again.

"As citizens, we each have a duty to put country above partisanship to defend our Constitution. That is why I will be casting my vote for Vice President Kamala Harris."

FTA:

America's 17 million-strong veteran community is traditionally more likely to vote for Republican candidates but polls suggest their enthusiasm for Trump is waning.

The former president won a 61 per cent share of this vote in 2016 but only 54 per cent in 2020. In a Change Research survey released this week, support for Trump among veterans was down to statistical coin toss at 51 per cent.

The military vote is of outsized importance in the five key swing states. There are nearly 800,000 veterans in Pennsylvania, more than 550,000 in Michigan and 283,000 in Wisconsin. Arizona has more than 450,000 and Nevada more than 200,000.

"There's no question in my mind there's been a shift," said Fred Wellman, a US army combat veteran with VoteVets, a veterans' advocacy group and political action committee.

"The Arlington debacle was different," Wellman said. "Even my non card-carrying vet friends who water-ski on weekends rather than pay attention to politics were deeply offended. Arlington is sacred."

NPR is reporting the names of the two Trump campaign officials who harrassed the ANC employee:

Trump deputy campaign manager identified in Arlington National Cemetery dustup

One of two staffers involved in the altercation at Arlington National Cemetery is a deputy campaign manager for Donald Trump's reelection bid, NPR has learned. The former president insisted this week the incident did not happen, highlighting a growing disconnect between the messaging of the candidate and his campaign. NPR is identifying both staffers after the campaign's conflicting responses to the incident last week outside Section 60 of the cemetery, where many casualties of Iraq and Afghanistan are buried.

The two staffers, according to a source with knowledge of the incident, are deputy campaign manager Justin Caporale and Michel Picard, a member of Trump's advance team.