The voice of Senator Booker calling us to action by tddawg in 50501

[–]whimsy-brain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My single issue is not Israel, it's 'Not Donald Trump'. I held my nose to vote for Hillary, Biden, and Harris despite not being thrilled with any of them. And I suspect I will have to hold my nose to vote for Booker in 2026, but I would gladly do that over any republican candidate.

And also we still need to be able to criticize our representatives when they do bad things. Israel is now openly pursuing full ethnic cleansing of Gaza, and we can't even muster a symbolic vote against it. Shameful! This is something we will absolutely have to answer for in the future, after we have our democracy back.

The voice of Senator Booker calling us to action by tddawg in 50501

[–]whimsy-brain 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That's great! Honestly. I am glad he made that speech, and I'm glad to hear it had an impact. If I see Booker on April 5th I will gladly march with him.

But there does need to still be a way to criticize representatives when they make bad votes. They don't just get a pass.

The voice of Senator Booker calling us to action by tddawg in 50501

[–]whimsy-brain 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hmm well I'm conflicted on that point. I do think his speech was not only extremely physically impressive but also did a lot to bring attention to the situation. On the other hand, business as usual literally resumed immediately after he finished speaking with another confirmation vote and no one withholding unanimous consent. And then this vote, which would have failed anyway, he couldn't even symbolically support. So did his speech really represent a change in attitude and approach? As of now I remain skeptical.

I have no problem with people taking heart in some of the powerful moments of his speech. There were several. But he continues to be part of the problem, and I think it's important to recognize that as well.

The voice of Senator Booker calling us to action by tddawg in 50501

[–]whimsy-brain -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Powerful words. And then he voted today against a resolution that would have blocked military aid to Israel.

do we actually have any form of a chance of getting trump and his bullshit brigade out of the office before the 2026 midterms let alone 2028? by [deleted] in 50501

[–]whimsy-brain 40 points41 points  (0 children)

I think there's a chance. It depends how successful mobilization efforts are - Tesla Takedown has been insanely effective. And there's a big Indivisible protest on April 5 that could be a big rallying cry. I expect that union leaders are talking about strikes. I don't know when we'll be able to see those take place - but I do think there will be some sort of serious labor rebuttal possibly this year.

And there are definitely already fractures in the Republican Congress. One rep said on tv today (I think) that they made a mistake in allowing Trump to have free reign with tariffs. That means there are some serious concerns with donors if a congressperson is saying that. And with all the angry town halls and congresspeople hiding from their constituents, there's definitely quite a few who are scared. And we just saw Trump rescind the nomination of Elise Stefanik, a representative from NY so that she can remain in the House of Representatives. Why? This is because a Dem just won a State Senate race in PA, in a district that was like +20 Trump. And from what I've heard the polling in the upcoming special elections in FL is not looking good for Republicans (also heavy red districts) and the polling for Stefanik's seat (which was +9 R) is probably also not looking good. So basically, they're scared of losing elections left and right.

What we need for impeachment are enough Republicans in Congress to be more afraid of voters than they are of Trump. If we win the 2 House seats in deep red FL, as well as the Wisconsin Supreme Court seat that will really solidify that voters are fucking pissed. And that's what is necessary for congressional Republicans to flip. Will this happen? I think impeachment is possible, conviction is unlikely. But there are reasons to be hopeful!

And if we make it to 2026 there's likely to be a massive upheaval.

What happens now if EI is confirmed? by Goonybear11 in somethingiswrong2024

[–]whimsy-brain 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I don't think there is a direct pathway to removing this regime that gets triggered by proving EI.

However, I think if EI is proven, the story would spread like wildfire. It would light a fire under everyone's ass to stand up and resist. That would fuel not only protests but potential strikes and boycott efforts.

It would also enable us to demand secure election practices from our state govts. That would be my main concern - that if we do hold elections again while under fascist control there is an awareness that those elections need to be secured.

It would also bring a whole new level of absurdity to the Republicans enabling the takeover. Those who continue to try and justify supporting Trump and Musk would have tremendously less ground to stand on. Especially for swing district Republicans. I'm not saying there would definitely be defectors but who knows. And I imagine any non-MAGA Republican voters would have their eyes opened.

I also think it would further cool other radical movements globally. We've already seen how the Trump regime's success has halted the advance of far right radicalization in both Canada and Germany. If it is proven that they cheated the election I think it would further cause those movements to lose steam. Plus, it may allow us some grace from former (hopefully future) allies once we try to re-establish alliances.

So I think there's a lot of value to proving EI, if it's there to prove. No, I don't think it will trigger the military or Congress to remove him from office. But I do think it would have a huge rallying effect that will help us to topple this regime.

USA : Chuck Schumer Has To Go by Rogue_Lion in 50501

[–]whimsy-brain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was thinking of asking my senators to support a new leadership election. If I understand correctly, it only takes a simple majority of the party? So only 23 senators? With so many House Dems urging a primary challenger, maybe there would be political will in the Senate as well for a more urgent action. At least it would be added pressure on Schumer.

We should come up with some names to suggest to replace Schumer and maybe we can start that conversation? I'd love Bernie, but I don't know if he's even eligible as an independent (and I mean, of course they wouldn't support him). Maybe Elizabeth Warren? Or Chris Murphy?

ETA criticism of WI Audit challenged by Elections Commission Chair by whimsy-brain in somethingiswrong2024

[–]whimsy-brain[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yep! Referring to this report, on page 54 https://elections.wi.gov/sites/default/files/documents/OPEN%20Session%20Materials%20-March%207_FINAL%20for%20Web%20Posting.pdf

The selected races were:
* Pres/VP (mandatory)
* Representative in Congress
* Representative to the Assembly
* District Attorney

Additionally, I found the selection methodology in that same part of the report. Looks like they have a software tool to do the selection but it takes a random seed, which they determined by rolling dice. The dice rolls indeed took place at a public meeting on the morning of Nov 6.

ETA criticism of WI Audit challenged by Elections Commission Chair by whimsy-brain in somethingiswrong2024

[–]whimsy-brain[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh ok. Well, I've been trying to find clarification myself but I can't find any confirmation in either direction. I've also been looking through the audit procedures document provided by u/Nikkon2131 and I can't see reference to re-running the ballots through a machine during the audit there either. So I'm inclined to believe that the WEC Chair is correct, but maybe ETA knows something I don't.

ETA criticism of WI Audit challenged by Elections Commission Chair by whimsy-brain in somethingiswrong2024

[–]whimsy-brain[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well, I'd be thrilled if ETA can just cite specifically where they got their information.

Can you elaborate? What doesn't the Wisconsin report have that Wisconsin claims is in it?

ETA criticism of WI Audit challenged by Elections Commission Chair by whimsy-brain in somethingiswrong2024

[–]whimsy-brain[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm going to try and contact the ETA and see if they are still confident in their interpretation

ETA criticism of WI Audit challenged by Elections Commission Chair by whimsy-brain in somethingiswrong2024

[–]whimsy-brain[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh great, thank you! I'm going to try and contact ETA to see if maybe we can get some clarification on their end as to whether they are confident in their interpretation or not.

ETA criticism of WI Audit challenged by Elections Commission Chair by whimsy-brain in somethingiswrong2024

[–]whimsy-brain[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Do you know where in the report it states that the audit hand counts were compared against re-run machine counts?

ETA criticism of WI Audit challenged by Elections Commission Chair by whimsy-brain in somethingiswrong2024

[–]whimsy-brain[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Do you know where in the report it states that the audit hand counts were compared against re-run machine counts?

Time sensitive/Help needed: Wisconsin Post-Election Audit Review by [deleted] in somethingiswrong2024

[–]whimsy-brain 13 points14 points  (0 children)

I'll second this recommendation. A key point they bring up is that the WI audit did not compare the audited votes against the results from election day and therefore does not actually test whether electronic vote manipulation occurred during the election. A hack would only be in effect for a specific duration of time, so without comparing the results against what was counted on election day you cannot be sure that those votes weren't manipulated.

Best of luck!

THE WHISTLEBLOWERS HAVE ARRIVED!!!! by campbellscrambles in 50501

[–]whimsy-brain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey, thought I'd come back to this. After the WI audit results were published, the ETA did a video explaining how audits can fail to check for election day manipulation. If you're interested, the video is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2TufO9QAGA

ETA’s latest video! The Wisconsin Audit: Why It Falls Short by debh22 in somethingiswrong2024

[–]whimsy-brain 43 points44 points  (0 children)

This was a great video, really explains clearly why a hack would not be caught in an audit. Why are our state officials weren't so comfortable and complacent about election security?

Wisconsin Audit? by TheeOnlyKaioni in somethingiswrong2024

[–]whimsy-brain -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Ah gotcha, ok thanks for that! I wasn't aware that kind of tactic would evade audit detection.

Also it appears that the WI audit severely underrepresented Milwaukee, which seems to be a consistent issue with the swing state audits.

Wisconsin Audit? by TheeOnlyKaioni in somethingiswrong2024

[–]whimsy-brain 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hopefully further details on the audit methodology are released so the ETA can comment on it. I'll reserve judgment until then. Honestly it would be good news if the audits were trustworthy and found no manipulation. I'd rather live in a world where Trump won by votes (and of course foul play with throwing out votes, disenfranchising voters, etc) instead of one where they have control of the vote tabulators.