A big win for Democrats in the midterms? Michael Moore predicts a big "YES"
Maverick filmmaker who called 2016 for Trump sees a "tsunami" of angry Democrats hitting the polls in "Roevember"
Back in 2016, filmmaker and frequent contrarian Michael Moore was a lone voice saying that despite all the public opinion polls predicting a massive Hillary Clinton win, Donald Trump was destined to become the next President of the United States. In July 2016, Moore wrote "Five Reasons Trump Will Be President." That article mostly went unnoticed by mainstream media after the election, when everyone finally realized Moore was right but it was way too late to make a difference. Now, as the midterms approach, Moore is again a lone (though not quite as lonely) voice predicting exactly the opposite of what the pundit class and mass media have been telling us is the inevitable loss of Congressional control by Democrats in November. Salon magazine has just published a brilliant review of all the compelling reasons Moore has put forth to back up his confidence that the MAGA-Republicans are about to be severely punished by the electorate. While Moore has published his thinking in serial form on his own website, over the course of many days, Salon put it all together in one place. This is great reading if you’ve been feeling down about democracy’s prospects come November…
Think you already know crazy? Meet the House MAGA wanna-be Class of ’22.
You might already be familiar with a lot of the buzz around MAGA-Republicans who deny the results of the 2020 election, embrace Q-Anon, see a “deep-state” conspiracy around every corner, and generally speaking, seem to embrace bad behavior as long as it serves their goals. There are lots and lots of examples, with names you’re already familiar with. Now, thanks to a further enlightening OpEd piece in The Washington Post by columnist Dana Milbank, a deeper bench of MAGA candidates is on full display. Putting aside the Hershell Walker walking disaster, here is just a tiny sampling from the article, of other, lesser-known MAGA-Republicans who are actually running for office:
the Virginia woman who speculated that rape victims wouldn’t get pregnant
the Colorado woman who backed an effort to secede from her state
the Wisconsin man who used campaign funds from his failed 2020 race to come to Washington on Jan. 6, 2021, where he apparently breached Capitol barricades
a MAGA nominee in Nevada who has used the “#QArmy” hashtag and embraced being called the “male” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, characterizing those facing charges for the insurrection as “civically engaged American citizens exercising their constitutional freedoms.”
the Michigan Republican who questioned women’s suffrage, when he wrote as a Stanford student that women don’t “posess [sic] the characteristics necessary to govern” because they rely on “emotional reasoning.”
And the list goes on and on and on. This is a great companion piece to the Michael Moore analysis of why the Democrats are on track to win big in November (above). Milbank offers context and examples (and in a weird way, this piece is as entertaining as it is insightful)…
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/10/07/republican-house-candidates-2022-crazy/
Add one more to the list: This QAnon Secretary of State candidate is promising to reinstall Trump in 2024. Uh huh…
Jim Marchant, the MAGA-GOP candidate for secretary of state in Nevada, appeared on stage alongside Donald Trump this past weekend and openly boasted that he and his QAnon coalition of candidates would put Trump back in the White House in 2024. “When my coalition of secretary of state candidates around the country get elected, we’re gonna fix the whole country and President Trump is gonna be president again,” Marchant promised as Trump stood next to him during a rally in Minden. As reported by VICE News, “President Trump and I lost an election in 2020 because of a rigged election,” Marchant said, failing to add that a court dismissed his efforts to re-run the election for a U.S. House seat. From the very first hours after Trump lost the 2020 presidential election, Marchant has led the effort to spread the falsehood that the election was stolen. “I have been working since November 4, 2020, to expose what happened and what I found out was horrifying. When I am secretary of state of Nevada, we’re going to fix it.” Merchant’s confidence will face the voters on November 8th, along with all the other MAGA-Republicans who believe it is no longer possible for a Democrat to legitimately win an election, regardless of where or when that election takes place…
https://www.vice.com/en/article/4ax7nm/jim-marchant-trump-qanon
FDA approves first ALS drug in 5 years after pleas from patients
The Food and Drug Administration last week overcame doubts from agency scientists and approved a fiercely debated drug for ALS, a move that heartened patients and advocates who pushed for the medication but raised concerns among some experts about whether treatments for dire conditions receive sufficient scrutiny. As reported by The Washington Post, the newly approved therapy, which will be sold under the brand name Relyvrio, is designed to slow the disease by protecting nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord destroyed by ALS — amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The ailment paralyzes patients, robbing them of their ability to walk, talk and eventually breathe. “This approval provides another important treatment option for ALS, a life-threatening disease that currently has no cure,” Billy Dunn, director of the FDA’s Office of Neuroscience, said in a statement.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/09/29/als-drug-fda-approval/
If you are enjoying these curated newsletters, please share them with others; and if you’re not yet a free subscriber, here’s your chance. Thanks in advance! Richard