Unofficial Academy Awards Discussion Board

This Sunday Brasil votes for a new president. Heavy favorite to win is Jair Bolsonaro, a far right candidate with a speech 10x worse than Trump. Interesting times...

https://heavy.com/news/2018/10/robert-bowers/

"The former president of the synagogue, Michael Eisenberg, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that the shooting took place on the third floor of the building. Eisenberg said that typically there would be a children’s class on that floor but had been canceled on the day of the attack."

Just a friendly reminder that the worst day can always be a thousand times worse.

We don't have early voting in New Jersey. Where I am it's mostly old people who go first thing in the morning. I usually wait until around 11 or 12 when I don't have to stand in long lines. I wouldn't mind, though, if it means a turn in the direction of the way the country is going.

This will be an historic election whichever way it goes. Either it will be a partial turn to normalcy or another disaster for the disenfranchised which will embolden McConnell to move quickly on his sick agenda to gut the ACA further and start the ball rolling to turn back Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

Big Magilla wrote:I hope this and the attempted assassiantions will motivate a few more people to get off their asses to go and vote for Democrats in the Senate races, especially in Arizona and Texas.

So, maybe this is an example of that. As usual, I went to vote the first day of early voting where I live. I stopped by in the morning, and, when I saw a long line, I took my car for an appointment to have the oil changed and the tires rotated. After the appointment, I returned to the voting location. I had to wait in line about a half hour. I had never encountered lines in early voting before, even in general Presidential elections. It is good to see so many people voting.

The synagogue shooter wasn't a Trump supporter - he considered Trump a globalist, not a nationalist, which will make it easy for Trump's minions to disavow him. Trumps' asinine remark that fewer (although I think he said "less", being the grammatical moron that he is) people would have been killed if there had been an armed guard posted at the entrance is just another stupid reaction that his base will nod their heads up and down in support of.

I hope this and the attempted assassiantions will motivate a few more people to get off their asses to go and vote for Democrats in the Senate races, especially in Arizona and Texas.

Today I woke up to an email saying "Cheryl is safe."

My cousin Cheryl is a Jewish civil rights attorney in Pittsburgh. She rarely goes to synagogue. For the first time in my family's life, they are grateful that being observant didn't take for most of us. I posted on Facebook "Yay! My cousin wasn't at the synagogue and killed during the shooting! It was just... other Jews."

However, I am astonished at the speed with which the bombings this week were dismissed as a left wing false flag. I'm actually more sympathetic to conspiracy theories than a lot of my colleagues in that I will hear and entertain them, even if I don't ultimately believe them. But this is just astonishing.

The saving grace of the week for me was Andrew Gillum's exceptional debate performance. "A hit dog will holler." "The racists believe he’s a racist." I don't think there is a race this year where the gulf between the two candidates is so wide. I have very high hopes for him.

Please...make it stop.

Should we refer to Caesar Sayoc as "The MAGA Bomber" or "The First MAGA Bomber?"

Over the past few weeks, I've spoken to some friends who'd really like it if we could all chill out a little bit. All I'll say is this. The GOP just learned how to win by campaigning against the MeToo movement. It’s about to get ugly, ugly, ugly.

And as with so many things the last few years, what seemed like it could end up being a complete disaster for the Republicans ends with them squeaking through by the narrowest of victories.

I truly have no bigger election night wish than to see Mitch McConnell become Senate Minority Leader.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/201 ... reme-court

Being on holidays has given me lots of reading time and I have no doubt in the validity of the accusations against Brett Kavanaugh and he is clearly not a fit person to be a judge, let alone a Supreme Court Judge for life. I must admit that I read very little of political going ons in the U.S. as we have enough of our own deplorables to keep me occupied, concerned and angry.

Back when 9/11 happened the Sydney Morning Herald had a cartoon of the Statue of Liberty with her face in her hands weeping. Not that this can be compared to 9/11 but that image is awfully appropriate in relation to Kavanaugh's likely appointment.

As for Trumps comment that the ladies that confronted Jeff Flake were 'paid professionals', well I suppose he'd know all about that given the 'services' he has paid for, which I believe in 49 of the 50 states of the U.S. is illegal.

Brett Kavanaugh's nomination process is probably the worst nadir for the Supreme Court since the Dred Scott ruling. And the chances are, it's only going to get worse in the coming years. The current system for appointing judges is not appropriate when the court has become so politicized as it is currently. But any reform would require a bipartisan effort, which is kind of lacking at the moment.

I don't think I've gone through this much anxiety since the 2016 election. I'm exhausted. I tried to watch the Matt Damon SNL cold open but I only mustered one small laugh when he said "I showed this speech to almost no one."

There are many things that I hate about this past week but had Brett Kavanaugh simply conducted himself before the Senate with a modicum of dignity and told the truth... half of the time ("Sure, I blacked out. I was a teenager. But I did not assault her.") then it might be possible that I could move into the next week with the courage of Dr. Ford's testimony more strongly in my mind. Instead, it has been completely eclipsed by this gross motherfucker who barring a miracle will absolutely be put on the Supreme Court because of systemic advantages set into motion long before this moment. For me, his alleged offenses are very bad and perhaps disqualifying. But in his efforts to save his skin, he has revealed to us that he is so lacking in maturity and character, a possible conspiracy theorist (!) and a liar of such shocking convenience, that the notion of him on the bench inspires nothing but vomit.

I tell myself that this is a good thing. At least we get to see him for who he truly is before he sits on the bench for the next thirty years ruling on women's reproductive rights.

While I remain a progressive Democrat, I am becoming more and more steadfast in my belief that the best thing for this country's soul is a woman kicking the electoral crap out of Trump in 2020.

Reports are that the White House has curtailed the FBI's investigation. They are not allowed to ask for Judge's employment records at Safeway in order to pinpoint the time of Blasey Ford's encounter. They are not allowed to investigate Kavanaugh's drinking at Yale which would help Bolster Ramirez's claims. They are not allowed to investigate any of Swetnick's claims. Cover-up, anyone?

Quite...more rapid, intense, and dangerous! Think of it almost as the booze equivalent (legal in all states) of "these pills make me feel good, but it just isn't enough anymore"...enter heroin.