Lou

Maria and I attended a Harris rally in Concord, NH on July 30. I wanted to see how real the energy we are seeing is and hopefully get some Harris swag. First Gentleman Doug Emhoff was the speaker. The venue was an IBEW Union hall. I think it was by invitation only as we had to sign up and they checked us on a guest list as we entered. They provided the venue name at 8:00 AM for doors opening at 9:30 AM

The hall was basically just standing room only. There were seats for seniors off to the side. I am not great at guessing the size of a crowd but I’m thinking 200 – 250, maybe more. I think this is a pretty good turnout for Doug Emhoff. Also there was something not seen at these events: young people. There were a lot of seniors as usual but there were a lot of non seniors. There was a lot of energy in the crowd just waiting for the speakers and we did wait a while. The NH officials came out about 11:30 and Doug Emhoff about 12:30. The crowd was loud and enthusiastic. Even though we were standing waiting for up to three hours, no one seemed to mind.

As far as getting Harris swag, not so successful. They didn’t seem to have a lot and were giving out what they had individually to people. I got a couple hand signs and 1 lawn sign.

Great job Democrats! Democrats did what we all hoped we would do. We quickly coalesced around Kamala Harris as our nominee for President. This could have been a chaotic battle among many capable people but it was anything but that. All potential candidates quickly endorsed Kamala setting up a quick approval from the delegates. A GREAT job!!

Kamala came roaring out of the gate. $47 million was donated within the first 8 hours coming from thousands of first time donators. She projected the strong voice that is required to defeat Trump. The party is hyper energized around Kamala and ready to go win this election.

We love Joe Biden (and Jill) and are proud of everything Biden/Harris accomplished but at 81 he just didn’t have the energy to battle the MAGA threat. Kamala is well qualified to be President and take it to Trump. The prosecutor vs the felon.

This is still a huge battle but we can do this!

Everyone has heard by now that President Joe Biden has withdrawn from seeking the nomination and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris.

There will be and already is lots of discussion concerning whether VP Kamala Harris is the selection or maybe others will seek the nomination. But that is a discussion for tomorrow.

Today we should reflect how lucky we were to have President Biden for the last 3.5 years and be grateful for what he has done for us and the country.

Joe Biden is a good and decent man. He saved us from 4 more years of Donald Trump and the extreme anti everything party.

We all want to forget COVID but Joe Biden took over when thousands were dying daily. He got supplies to hospitals, got shots into arms, provided money to businesses to keep them afloat and the country out of a depression.

He was inaugurated in a heavily guarded ceremony with almost no participants because Donald Trump executed an unsuccessful insurrection on January 6. Joe Biden navigated us through this. Who actually thought that the DOJ would arrest and convict hundreds of insurrectionists.

He passed the biggest bill to allocate money to fight climate change. Maybe the biggest threat to all of us.

He passed the CHIPS act bringing the manufacturing of computer chips used for just about everything electronic back into the United States.

This economy created millions of jobs, raised peoples wages, stock market over 40,000. The economy is so hot that all efforts to slow if down have met with limited success as there’s still demand for jobs.

He almost single handedly resurrected NATO and unified it to fight Russia the second largest threat to democracy (you know who number 1 is) in Ukraine. He has also unified our allies on the Pacific Rim to counteract China in the region.

Insulin capped at $35, out of pocket costs for Medicare at $2,000, working every path to eliminate student debt.

We filled the courts and executive positions with people who looked like America. People from all races and religions. He nominated the Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court.

How many times have we heard politicians say that you must put the country ahead of oneself for the good of the country. How many politicians have ever done it? Joe Biden just did it. Joe Biden should be honored for the patriot that he is. He likely has saved us again from Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans (which appears to be all of them).

Joe waited until after the MAGA Convention to announce this so we could hear from the very old, mentally unstable, incoherent man ramble on for 90 minutes. Until after the over confident MAGAs picking a horrible VP with no experience who changed all his views. Basically Donald Trump with a beard.

Thank you if you reached this spot. I likely missed many accomplishments but this is what I could recall off the top of my head.

I believe today what I always have: that there is nothng America can’t do when we do it
together. We just have to remember we are the United States of America.

THANK YOU, JOE

OK. Here we go! Get to work! We can do this!

State lawmakers are poised to approve a gun control proposal that calls for banning “ghost” guns, updating the state’s “assault” weapons ban and setting new restrictions on the open carry of firearms.

On Wednesday, a six-member committee that includes Sens. Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester, and Joan Lovely, D-Salem, announced that it had agreed to a final compromise bill that hammers out differences between House and Senate versions of the legislation.

The final bill is subject to an up or down vote in the House and Senate before heading to Gov. Maura Healey’s desk for consideration.

Legislative leaders who backed the proposal said while Massachusetts has one of the lowest firearm death rates in the nation, gun violence is still affecting communities across the state whether by suicide, domestic violence or drive-by shootings.

“While the commonwealth’s existing gun laws have proven to be effective in preventing gun violence compared to other states, relative success is never a cause for complacency,” House Speaker Ron Mariano, D-Quincy, said in a prepared statement.

Members of the panel that hammered out final details of the bill behind closed doors issued a statement saying it “builds on the commonwealth’s strong gun laws which have proven effective in lowering incidents of gun violence and equips our criminal justice system with the necessary tools to stem the tide of illegal firearms flooding our neighborhoods.”

A key provision of the bill would update the“assault” weapons ban by outlawing untraceable“ghost” guns that can be assembled using partsmanufactured on 3D printers. Dozens of long rifleswould be added to the state’s “assault” weaponsban, but “grandfathers in” newly banned weaponsbought prior to the new restrictions going into

effect.

The plan also prohibits carrying firearms in government buildings, polling places and schools, with exemptions for current and retired certified law enforcement professionals. Local governments could vote to opt out of the municipal building firearm restrictions.

It also set strict penalties for possession of modification devices such as Glock switches that convert semi-automatic firearms into fully automatic, military- style weapons.

In an opinion that was shocking both for its reasoning and its timing, Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the Mar-a-Lago classified documents prosecution against former President Donald Trump. She declared that Jack Smith’s appointment as special counsel is unlawful under the Appointments Clause of the Constitution. Even given Cannon’s clear bias and reckless handling of the case from the outset, this development is jaw-dropping. In the wake of the Supreme Court’s anything-goes majority opinion on presidential immunity, we are witnessing the “MAGAfication” of the judiciary, joining Donald Trump in the march toward lawlessness. It should be met with repudiation by voters come November.

The special counsel’s office has announced he will promptly appeal Cannon’s ruling to the 11th Circuit. That court has reversed Cannon before when she dramatically departed from precedent. Legal folks seem to agree that it will be quickly reversed. Of course, I suspect it will go to the MAGA Court and who knows what they will do. Also heard, Smith can seek removal of Cannon. 

I wonder what motivates Judge Cannon. It appears unusual for a judge to be so openly bias. Is she just a big MAGA believer or so beholden to Trump? Is she possibly terrified of the MAGA crowd and the threats against other judges conducting trials of Donald Trump that she will do anything to get out from under this case?

Trump picked JD Vance as his VP pick. A bit of a surprise for me. vance is 39 years old and has been a Senator for 18 months longer than me. Of course, I jest but obviously not chosen for his experience. Once a “Never Trump” Republican, has since become a loyal follower of Trump.

By comparison, he makes Lindsay Graham look consistent in his beliefs. Vance once liked a tweet that said Trump committed “serial sexual assault,”. He called trump “one of USA’s most hated, villainous, douchey celebs,”. He since-removed a set of tweets, harshly criticized Trump’s response to the deadly 2017 White nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia — something Vance now defends Trump over.

Vance in February 2016 privately wondered whether Trump was “America’s Hitler,” and a few months later wrote in The Atlantic that Trump was “cultural heroin.”

The freshman senator from Ohio won his election in 2022 funded heavily by pro-Trump tech mogul Peter Thiel.

It appears that this pick does not expand their reach but just double downs on MAGA. Unsure if this means that they are so confident that they don’t need to expand their reach.

The GOP Convention begins on Monday. Four days that will be hard to watch but I think we must watch. Four days of attacking immigrants, women’s rights, and LGBTQ+ rights. Four days of advocating for more guns. Four days denying climate change. Four days of defending the racist, sexual predator, convicted criminal. Four days of lies about the Trump economy, his handling of COVID, his wellness and fitness. Four days of reminiscing about the 1950s when white men were entitled, women and minorities knew their place. Four days of lies about President Biden. All while they wrap themselves up in the flag.

Not much of an incentive to watch this but watch we must. Have a lot of friends and alcohol handy!

Oh yeah. It’s being held in Milwaukee. You know, the place Trump called a “horrible city”.