WI-01

Republican thinkers seem to find it Ok to heap all kinds of deprecations on Trump's head without hesitation. Even when their dissatisfaction and criticism are actually aimed towards Paul Ryan, it appears to be more comfortable for them to just use Trump's name instead.

At the beginning of the video Bernie made when he endorsed Randy Bryce for Congress-- the only congressional endorsement he's done this year-- he whispered to Randy, sotto voce, "Listen to me, don't always listen to the consultants." And I don't know many people who have enough strength of character and personal integrity to listen less to "the consultants" than the two of them: Bernie and Randy, two guys with a mission and who know what they're doing. They take advice and weigh it... and do what they know is the right thing to do. And look at that endorsement.

-by NoahI suppose that some may say that today's meme is, maybe, a bit harsh, or at least crass. So what. The other night, I was watching Bill Maher's show. He only had two panelists this time. Usually, there are three and at least one is of the Republican variety. Sometimes, that republican is able to pass as a somewhat sane or decent person, almost. Notice that I didn't use the word 'individual'.

Endorsements for candidates by other politicians don't generally mean much. They can even backfire... look what Trump's endorsements did for North Carolina Congresswoman Renee Ellmers. An incumbent, she lost her House seat. And look what happened when Trump endorsed-- multiple times-- Luther Strange. Though he spent millions of dollars more than crackpot pedophile Roy Moore, Trump's endorsement didn't do bupkis for Strange. And his endorsement for Ed Gillespie in Virginia actually caused Gillespie to sink in the polls.

Trump always denies his high-profile bankruptcies, half a dozen of which were front page headlines in New York and, of course, Atlantic City, over and over again. His denials, precursors of the lies that mark every day of his illegitimate presidency, were accepted at face value by the rubes in Wyoming, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Kentucky, North Dakota and Alabama.

If you know Randy Bryce, you know what I'm about to relate is something that would never/could never come from him. But a DC observer told me recently that he found himself at an event with Bryce. He noticed that lots of men in suits and ties were angling to get selfies of themselves with Randy.

David Frum seems disappointed in Paul Ryan: "October 2017 is already late to recognize Donald Trump for what he is and what he is doing, and next year will be later, and the year after that later still. Someday, I’m sure, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan will unburden himself of the agonies he felt during all the time he enabled and empowered this president to do the harm under which Ryan writhed.

The invitation up top was mostly sent to lobbyists and other Beltway crooks for an opportunity to meet the fresh crop of pre-screened conservative Democrats the New Dems are backing for Congress.

Tonight-- midnight-- we end the Green Day guitar contest. As we mentioned last weekend, Blue America has a signed Fender Squire Bullet Strat that each member of Green Day autographed for me while I was president of their label. Everyone who contributes here-- any amount-- to Randy Bryce's campaign has an equal chance to win the guitar-- pictured below with Randy holding it. We'll pick one person at random in the next couple of days. If you give $1,000 you get a chance to get the guitar.

Today's big news in the WI-01 congressional race between Randy Bryce and Paul Ryan was about an extraordinary endorsement from neighboring congressmember, Mark Pocan for Bryce. So why is that extraordinary?