Wednesday, November 23, 2022

GET ME REWRITE: Apparently, Reuters/Ipsos had a disproportionate number of Republicans on its latest poll call list

 
Reuters/Ipsos.  20 percentage-point gap in Biden approval/disapproval.

Economist/YouGov.   5 percentage point gap in Biden approval/disapproval.

Go figure.

Real Clear Politics (red boxes added)


Feast on this pre-Thanksgiving 2024 GOP presidential nomination poll before you chow down on turkey


Just a 15 percentage-point difference between Trump and DeSantis today. 

Source:  Real Clear Politics

Related posts:
Trump remains a winner, according to Australia's United States Studies Centre.  (11/22/2022)
GOP horse race to the presidential nomination: Just 620-some days left until the Republican National Convention.  (11/17/2022)

John Wester (1932-2022) Warren High School class of 1950

 
1950 Dragon yearbook  


1967 Warren City Directory
  • Wester Enar A (Bertha E) lab technician Wester Laboratory h213 Madison Avenue
1983 Warren City Directory

The popularity of John as a baby name is graphed here.  Let's take a look at classmate Mickey.

Mickey spent a mediocre 40 years on the baby names chart, peaking at #545 in 1948.


Other members of the WHS class of 1950 (28):
2022
John McGarry.  (5/21)

2021

2020
James Gray.  (7/10)
Mabel Morse Horner.  (2/4)

2019
Donald Cable.  (8/27)
Clifford LeRoy Maze.  (7/9)
Robert Lundmark.  (7/1)
Donald Baldensperger.  (1/26)

2018
John White.  (10/12)
Geraldine Downey Gustafson.  (10/7)

2017
Helen Quiggle Kroemer.  (7/9)
Dale Witherell.  (5/31)
Betty Reynolds Mahan.  (4/4)
Helen Kane Scalise.  (2/23)

2016
William Lemmon.  (8/30)
Joan Kondak Vernon.  (8/3)
Barbara Reist Cook.  (7/7)
Mary Sikstrom Bauer.  (6/20)
Robert Jones.  (6/4)

2015
Lewis McCullough.  (7/6)
Joan Marlene Campbell Berdine.  (2/18)

2014
Glen Valentine.  (8/18)

GET ME REWRITE: Great Britain's newest prime minister Rishi Sunak engages in hilarious wishful thinking

 
HeadlineNew York Times, 11/22/2022
The cause of the remorse is clear: Britain’s economic crisis, which is the gravest in a generation and worse than those of its European neighbors. Not all — or even most — of the problems are because of Brexit, but Britain’s vexed trade relationship with the rest of Europe indisputably plays a role. 
[snip] 
“I voted for Brexit, I believe in Brexit,” Mr. Sunak added. “I know that Brexit can deliver, and is already delivering, enormous benefits and opportunities for the country.”

Can a Democrat win in Wisconsin's GOP gerrymandered 8th Senate District?

 
The district includes the liberal North Shore suburbs in Milwaukee County, increasingly purple areas in Ozaukee and Waukesha counties, and a big slab of red meat in ultra-conservative Washington County.  

Darling won by 8.5 percentage points in 2020, with a comfortable 10,000+ vote margin.  

Best scenario for Democrats:  ultra-conservative election denier from Washington County wins the GOP primary.

Announcement@SenDarling


Based on this language in the state statutes, it's likely that Governor Evers will call a special election that coincides with the spring elections.

Wisconsin State Legislature (orange box added)

Stay tuned!

GET ME REWRITE: Federalist Society's warped view of same-sex marriage as presented in a headline, subhead and lede

 
Federalist Society, 11/22/2022 (highlight added)

In other words, Jordan Boyd laments the fact that some Americans can't discriminate based on their warped, perverted practice of Christianity.

Wisconsin Library Association champion and GOP Secretary of State candidate Amy Loudenbeck, who never talked about protecting voting rights, concedes race

 
Thank you voters for seeing the strings on this Robin Vos puppet.

Dictionary definitionMerriam-Webster

That's because Speaker Vos hadn't yet told her what those changes would be.
During her campaign, Loudenbeck didn't specify what changes she would make to the office, saying those issues should be determined by the Legislature, but she supported consolidating oversight duties in the secretary of state's office. She also contended that election laws were not uniformly enforced during the 2020 election.  [emphasis added]

Related reading:
American Progress, 11/22/2022
Many of the most restrictive voting efforts were halted by governors who vetoed restrictive legislation and pushed back against the tide of attacks on voting rights in states such as Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. If not for the veto power of governors in these battleground states, the restrictions on voting—and the subsequent weakening of the democratic process—would have been more severe and widespread.


Original 10/23/2022 post, "Wisconsin Library Association champion and GOP Secretary of State candidate Amy Loudenbeck mum on protecting the rights of voters", starts here.

Headline:  Wisconsin State Journal, 9/2/2022



As John Torinus describes it, Wisconsin GOP election denier Kool-Aid Queen Janel Brandtjen went ballistic over three grains of sand in the desert

 

Headline:  Ozaukee Press, 11/22/2022
As with 2020, the election Tuesday was well-organized, well executed and accurate by any statistical measure. 
There was one goofy incident where a Milwaukee elections worker sent three illegal military ballots to Rep. Janel Brandtjen of Menomonie Falls, who is chair of an elections committee in the Legislature. She made a big stink of the ballots sent as a protest against Brandtjen’s conspiracy theories. Unwarranted major headlines ensued. 
But here’s the deal: The three ballots were never filed, and they are only three stinkin’ ballots. Three! They are grains in the sands in a desert, totally immaterial to the quality of elections in Wisconsin.

Related posts:
Wisconsin GOP election denier Kool-Aid Queen Janel Brandtjen is even too toxic for her own party's caucus.  (11/16/2022)
GOP judge quickly slaps down Wisconsin election denier queen's lawsuit to block military votes.  (11/8/2022)

Tuesday, November 22, 2022

GET ME REWRITE: GOP racists gone wild!!

 

Top headlineWashington Post, 11/21/2022
Bottom headline: Lipstick Alley, 11/20/2022

GET ME REWRITE: In the GOP gas price blame game, what comes around, goes around

 
HeadlineWisconsin State Journal, 11/22/2022
The average price dropped 24 cents to $3.32 a gallon, down from $3.56 a week ago, according to AAA. A month ago, the average price was $3.64 a gallon. 
In Madison, the average price Tuesday was $3.40 a gallon, down 22 cents from a week ago. 
But there were several reports of gas for $3.19 a gallon on Gas Buddy, a price-tracking website, including Kwik Trip stores on Schroeder Road and Mineral Point Road and the Woodman’s on Gammon Road and Milwaukee Street.
Related series of posts:
In the GOP gas price blame game, what comes around, goes around.  (7/18/2022)

Patricia Johnson Steber (1946-2022) Warren Area High School class of 1964

 
1964 Dragon yearbook

1967 Warren City Directory

    1983 Warren City Directory 


    The popularity of Patricia as a baby name is graphed here.  Let's take a look at 
    Nathan has been an impressively steady and increasingly improving performer through the years since 1900.  After descending to a "low point" in 1947 (#273), he ascended into the top 100, where he's now in his 50th year.  He peaked at #20 in 2004 and 2005. 

    Other members of the class of 1964 (27):
    2022

    2021
    Earl Huber.  (10/26)
    Gary Johnson.  (9/4)
    Linda Repine.  (3/14)

    2020
    Thomas Mintzer.  (6/14)
    Ernest Hoag, Jr.  (1/11)

    2019
    David Rydholm.  (8/7)
    Jacqueline King Jeffords.  (6/11)
    Eugene Smith.  (2/5)

    2018
    Jean Tickner.  (12/10)
    Vincent Pace.  (6/6/)
    Robert Arnold.  (5/8)
    Burt Alexander.  (4/3)
    John Lindberg.  (3/27)

    2017
    James DeLong.  (11/6)
    Ruth Johnson Jackson.  (10/14)
    Gordon Eric Cedarquist.  (8/19)
    John David Pirillo.  (8/10)

    2016
    Dwight Drum, (8/1)

    2015
    David Holmberg.  (8/3)
    Susen Johnson Gebhardt.  (6/2)
    Delores Brady Geer.  (1/25)
    Judith McCool Madigan.  (1/26)

    2014
    Julia Barhight Verdot.  (9/5)
    Charles Lyon.  (1/12)

    2024 GOP presidential nomination: Trump remains a winner, according to Australia's United States Studies Centre

     
    According to Wikipedia
    The United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney aims to increase understanding of the United States in Australia and enrich the Australia–United States relationship. The centre teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students, conducts policy-focused research, and hosts public events on a range of issues.

    HeadlineUnited States Policy Centre, 11/18/2022
    But ultimately, no amount of introspection or intervention from Republican leaders can stop Trump from becoming the party’s 2024 presidential nominee. The only serious group with the power to prevent his nomination are Republican primary voters. And among this group, Trump remains a winner. 
    In polling conducted by the United States Studies Centre before the midterm elections in 2022, 77 per cent of 2020 Trump voters said a second presidential term for him would be good for America; 54 per cent said it would be “very good” for the country. For context, only 62 per cent of Biden voters said it would be a positive thing for him to be re-elected, and only 26 per cent said it would be “very good”. 
    Early in the process, primary voters in places such as Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada largely determine the field of candidates running. Here, Trump as a presidential candidate, maintains broad appeal.
    Maybe not so much anymore in Iowa, Patricia.






    Related post:
    GOP horse race to the presidential nomination: Just 620-some days left until the Republican National Convention.  (11/17/2022)

    GET ME REWRITE: Upset white parents in rural Iowa school district want to scrub lessons with LBGTQ, 'critical race theory'

     

    Headline Des Moines Register, 11/20/2022
    This largely white Iowa town where baseball legend Bob Feller learned his fastball has become the latest battlefront in America's culture war over race and sexual identity. 
    Armed with a new Iowa law aimed at giving families more control over what their children are learning in public schools, more than 130 townspeople have signed a petition seeking to have the Van Meter Community School District remove lesson plans they say promote a liberal political agenda. 
    Their "Back to Basics: Preserving The Integrity of Van Meter Schools" petition accuses teachers and administrators of using a social-emotional learning curriculum laced with "gender ideology" and "divisive critical race ideology." And it calls for their children to receive a "nonpolitical" education devoid of sexual and sexually graphic content.
    Cobbled together with no thought given to teacher recruitment.

    Brookings arrives late to the Shamokin Pennsylvania transformation party

     
    The population of Shamokin has decreased 67% since its peak 100 years ago.

    Population:  Wikipedia
    HeadlineBrookings, 11/22/2022

    It's an oft-told story in the declining coal and oil time of Pennsylvania.
    Shamokin, Pennsylvania is a former coal town on its way to becoming an outdoor recreation destination after decades of decline. In this episode of Reimagine Rural, Tony Pipa returns to his roots to learn how an abandoned mine remediation project is helping spur community renewal. He speaks with local leaders and residents who are bringing their vision to life with the support of key public resources.

    Warren County PA, where Retiring Guy grew up, has engaged in this same discussion for years.

    (highlight added)

    Warren's population has decreased 37% since its 1940 peak.


    Iconic view of Warren from Washington Park.

    Photos by Retiring Guy

    The bend of the Allegheny River as seen from the Hickory Street Bridge in Warren.


    Liberty Street, a once-bustling central business district, on a quiet Sunday morning.  (Growing up in Warren, you never said you were going downtown.  You were going 'overtown'.)



    Trump now leads a GOP party of proven losers

     
    Top headline: CNN, 10/26/2022
    (Thank you for your service on the part of Democrats, Donald Trump!)
    Bottom headlineNew York Times, 11/8/2022

    From the New York Times
    Voters in a series of critical battleground states rejected Republican candidates for governor, attorney general and secretary of state who have spread doubts about the 2020 election, blocking an effort to install allies of former President Donald J. Trump in positions with sweeping authority over voting.  [emphasis added]
    In Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, Democrats prevailed on Tuesday against Republican opponents who, to varying degrees, had campaigned on overhauling elections in ways that would benefit their party and called into question their commitment to democratic outcomes.


    Day 7 of the GOP 2024 Shit Show: Paul Ryan to GOP, Donald Trump is a loser



    HeadlineMilwaukee Journal Sentinel, 11/20/2022
    Ryan, a Republican who represented Wisconsin's 1st Congressional District for 20 years, was speaker of the House from 2015 to 2019. He told correspondent Jonathan Karl on ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" in the wake of Trump's announced run that Republicans would lose if they backed Trump for president in 2024. 
    “We get past Trump, we start winning elections. We stick with Trump, we keep losing elections. That’s just how I see it," Ryan said.



    11/21/2022 update, "Meet the Hefties", starts here.
    Headline:  AlterNet, 11/20/2022
    The report says that the "speeches in Western Pennsylvania were far more than just stump rallies for key candidates." They're beginning their efforts to run for president, years ahead of time. And how successful they are at getting people elected could determine their status in the state and the Republican Party.


    11/19/2022 update, "New York Post dumps Trump's campaign announcement into the trash", starts here.

    Top headlineNew York Times, 11/18/2022



    11/18/2022 update starts here

    HeadlineWisconsin Examiner, 11/17/2022



    11/17/2022 update starts here

    Top headlineWashington Post, 11/15/2022 (highlight added)
    Bottom headlineAxios, 11/16/2022


    Original 11/16/2022 post starts here
     
    Headlines top to bottom:  New York TimesWashington Post, The WrapRolling Stone

    Monday, November 21, 2022

    H. Robert Hampson (1933-2022) Warren High School class of 1951

     
      1951 Dragon yearbook
       
    Source:  Donald Lewis Funeral Home

    1967 Warren City Directory

    1983 Warren City Directory,

    The popularity of Robert as a baby name is graphed here.  Let's take a look at granddaughter Callie. 
    .
    Social Security Administration

    Callie spent the first 4 decades of the 20th century in a slow decline, then hit some major turbulence, which bounced her off and on the chart from the late 1950s to the early 1970s.  Starting in 1973, she embarked on what became an arduous trek up the ladder and in 2020 achieved her highest-ever position at #165.

    Other members of the WHS class of 1951 (36):
    Dennis Bonace.  (6/15)

    2021
    Robert Hampson.  (11/24)
    2020
    Doris Mason Sadler.  (8/21)

    Independent voters in Brown County Wisconsin narrow the gap in 2022 midterms

     
    Election resultsPoliticoMilwaukee Journal Sentinel

    Republican slippage has been the worst in Brown County, where Walker had double Michels' margin with an 8-point victory over Evers in 2018. In 2014, Walker defeated Burke in Brown County by a whopping 17 points, with 58% of the vote. 

    Dear Michigan GOP election deniers, Elections have consequences. Best, Retiring Guy


    Top headlineWall Street Journal, 11/9/2022
    Bottom headlineMichigan Advance, 11/20/21022
    Attention has mostly been focused on the defeats of election deniers at the top of the ballot, both in Michigan and nationwide. Republican Tudor Dixon lost to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Republican Kristina Karamo was defeated by Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Republican Matt DePerno was beaten by Attorney General Dana Nessel. 
    Democrats also wrested control of both chambers of the Michigan Legislature for the first time in almost 40 years. However, the next class of lawmakers will still include a bevy of election deniers.

    And this bevy of election deniers can just sit there and stew, pondering the widespread damage they've inflicted on their party as Trump sycophants.

    And then there were those Trafalgar fantasy polls

     
    Poll numbers@Trafalgar_Group
    Screenshot:  Financial Review, 10/21/2022
    Mr Cahaly, whose outfit identified a “silent majority” support base for Mr Trump in 2016, said this new group could be hiding a margin of between 1.5 per cent and 5 per cent for the Republicans at the election, which determines which party runs Congress. 
    Mr Cahaly’s theory is that more conservative voters suspect government and activist agencies are targeting them using polling database information, and therefore shy away from voicing their voting intentions to pollsters.

    Like every election, the 2022 midterm taught us some things about the political landscape.  
    It taught us that the polls can still be pretty good.

    And don't forget this doozy....

    Sources:  New York TimesKMBC

    ....one that pollsters and pundits had completely dismissed as Election Day approached, having entered the 'red wave' echo chamber.

    Related posts:
    Since Election Day, we have been listening to 'The Sounds of Silence" by Robert C. Cahaly.  (11/16/2022)
    Looking forward to Trafalgar's first fantasy poll of the 2024 GOP presidential campaign shit show.  (11/16/2022)
    Senate race in Arizona.  (11/15/21022)
    Senate race in Colorado.  (11/14/2022)
    Senate race in Nevada.  (11/15/2022)
    Senate race in Vermont.  (11/11/2022)