Watch Live: Alabama Voters Head To The Polls To Fill Crucial Senate Seat

Shortly after 8pm EST this evening, the voting results of one of the most controversial special elections in modern history, which pits Republican Roy Moore against Democrat Doug Jones for Jeff Sessions" vacant Senate seat, will start to flow in to news desks all around the country.

While this election would have been a complete blowout just a few months ago, allegations of sexual assault which surfaced against Moore in November and which reportedly occurred in the late "70s, have made it a complete toss up.  As we noted earlier this morning, even pollsters have no clue how to predict voter turnout tonight with Fox News predicting a 10-point win for Jones and Emerson predicting a 9-point win for Moore.

For those looking to get an early read on how the night might turn out, we would suggest keeping a close eye on Mobile which is the second largest county in Alabama and is home to a disproportionate share of the state"s affluent republicans who are the most likely to abandon Moore.  Otherwise, while voter turnout will undoubtedly be down from the 2016 presidential contest, shifts in support in Jefferson and Montgomery counties, both with high concentrations of African-American voters, could provide an early signal on whether Jones has been successful in turning out his base.

With that intro, tune in below for the live results:

* * *

For those who missed it, below is the preview we shared earlier this morning.

After a last weekend of campaigning with celebrities, Doug Jones (D) with Alabama native Charles Barkley and Roy Moore (R) with Breitbart News chairman Steve Bannon and controversial former Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke, election day for one of the most controversial special elections in modern U.S. history has finally arrived. 

As The Hill points out, Moore"s chances to become the first Democrat to win an Alabama Senate seat since 1992 rely on his ability to turnout African-American voters in cities like Birmingham and Montgomery.  Moore"s fate, on the other hand, depends on voters in the more affluent city of Mobile and rural white voters from around the state.

Jones spent the weekend on stops with prominent black Democratic lawmakers such as Alabama Rep. Terri Sewell and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, while Congressional Black Caucus members Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-Ga.) and Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-La.) held get-out-the-vote events down state.

 

While African-Americans make up roughly a quarter of Alabama’s population, years of dismal Democratic returns have left his party without much of a ground game.

 

“I wish that the [Democratic National Committee] had focused more on states and making certain they had infrastructure here,” he said.

 

While Moore’s time on the trail has been limited recently — there were rumors he attended the Army-Navy football game in Philadelphia on Saturday — he did sit down for an interview on “The Voice of Alabama Politics” at the state Republican Party headquarters, which aired Sunday.

Of course, as we pointed out yesterday, the polls headed into election day are almost completely useless as pollsters admit they have no idea how to handicap voter turnout today.  While voter turnout in mid-cycle elections is always difficult to predict, this one is especially complicated in light of the sexual assault allegations against Roy Moore. 

Which is precisely why the latest Fox News Poll of likely voters showed a commanding 10-point lead for Democrat Doug Jones....

Even though a poll released the day before by Emerson showed the exact opposite with a 9-point lead for Moore.  Per Real Clear Politics:

As CNN notes, the key to victory in Alabama could come down to Mobile, a region that is home to scores of more affluent, moderate, business-type Republicans who are most likely to abandon Moore for Jones or simply elect to sit this election out.

There"s a reason Trump"s event was in Pensacola, and Moore closed his campaign with big rallies in Fairhope a week from election day and Midland City on Monday night: They"re all in the Mobile media market.

 

If Jones is going to win, he can"t rely purely on turning out his base and hoping Republicans stay home. He"ll need some white, conservative supporters, and the Mobile region is his best chance to win some.

 

Those are the voters Moore"s supporters have targeted with a message that the election is a referendum on Trump"s agenda.

 

"It"s an up-or-down vote tomorrow between the Trump miracle and the nullification project," Bannon said Monday night in Midland City.

As a quick reminder, here is how Alabama voted in the 2016 Presidential election.  Hillary performed well in the heavily African-American cities of Birmingham (+7.6%) and Montgomery (+26.8%) while Trump carried Mobile (+13.7%) and most of the rural areas of the state.

All of which ultimately resulted in a massive 27.7 point blowout victory for Trump.

So, after weeks of intense media focus on an election that should have been a foregone conclusion, we are now just a few hours away from finding out whether Republicans made their first a serious special election blunder by choosing to support a highly controversial candidate who was potentially doomed from the moment sexual assault allegations against him first surfaced last month.

Bama Blowout?: Latest Fox News Poll Shows Doug Jones With Commanding 10-Point Lead Over Moore

With voting set to get underway in the controversial Alabama Senate race in about 24 hours, the latest Fox News Poll of likely voters shows a commanding 10-point lead for Democrat Doug Jones.  The poll was conducted among likely Alabama voters on Thursday through Sunday using traditional polling techniques, including a list-based probability sample with both landlines and cellphones.

Of course, as with all the "fake polls" that inaccurately predicted Hillary"s sweeping victory last fall, one key variable in determining the accuracy of polling data is predicting who will show up to vote tomorrow...a task which even Fox admits is "impossible to know." 

This race’s uniqueness is significant.  It is impossible to know who will show up to vote in a special election to fill a seat in the middle of a term in an off-year.  And it’s December, a time when people expect to be going to the shopping mall, not the voting booth.

That said, there are numerous red flags which don"t bode well of Moore"s chances including strong support among Independents for Jones as well as waning support from evangelical Christians.

The small subgroup of independents breaks for Jones by 29 points.

 

Support for Moore among white evangelical Christians is down 8 points since last month: it was 73 percent in November and stands at 65 percent now.

 

And his advantage among men has dropped from 12 points last month to just 3 points now.  In addition, Republican men (41 percent) are less likely than GOP women (50 percent) or Democratic men (53 percent) to be “extremely” interested in the race.

 

“Moore might prevail if only the people who typically vote in Alabama elections turn out Tuesday, which is often what happens in special elections,” says Democratic pollster Chris Anderson, who conducts the Fox News Poll with Republican counterpart Daron Shaw.

 

“But this appears to be a special, special election with blacks and young voters animated by a caustic Republican candidate and the chance of winning a statewide election with national implications, and at the same time some Republicans and many moderates are turned off by Moore, too.”

All that said, this latest Fox News poll deviates substantially from the Real Clear Politics average which includes a series of polls that show a commanding lead for Moore...the exact opposite of what Fox News found.

Meanwhile, offering up the latest evidence of how critical the establishment parties consider this race to be, CNN pointed out this morning that former President Obama recorded a robocall for Jones over the weekend saying "This one’s serious. You can’t sit it out."

"This one"s serious," Obama says in the call. "You can"t sit it out."

 

Two Democratic officials familiar with the Alabama race tell CNN that Obama recorded the phone message in recent days, at the very time Trump stepped up his own involvement in the campaign with a recorded message. Obama does not mention Moore by name.

 

"Doug Jones is a fighter for equality, for progress," Obama says. "Doug will be our champion for justice. So get out and vote, Alabama."

 

Obama"s message to voters -- intended to specifically reach black voters whose turnout is critical for Democratic candidate Jones -- comes on the eve of a special election that has drawn extraordinary national attention and divided the Republican Party over whether sexual allegations against Moore make him unfit for office.

Of course, only time will tell if this is just another fake poll or if Republicans made a serious blunder in their decision to support a high controversial candidate who was doomed from the moment sexual assault allegations against him first surfaced last month.

Sexual Assault Storm Tells us Something Else About Power

Via The Daily Bell

Let’s talk about power. The way I see it, there are basically two types of power, political and economic. You can wield power through the government, or through your giant bank account.

In the crony world of corporate-political America, the lines are blurry. These days most people gain their political or economic power by mixing the two. But you can still tease apart whether someone’s power derives mostly from political or economic sources.

And there are all these people with either type of power who secretly behind closed doors act completely inappropriately when it comes to sexual advances.

(There’s more to the story about why the media is just now reporting these things. Read my take on the media’s plan for using sexual assault accusations as a weapon. But for our current discussion, suffice to say, most of these guys are major creeps exploiting their positions.)

So what happens to the people in each power-house when they are caught, with credible evidence?

The economically powerful in the private sector get fired. They have sponsors pulled, they have projects canceled. The power they used to take advantage sexually is seriously diminished. Even if it doesn’t cost them outright, it costs them in network connections. It costs them in reputation, and reputation is a key component of economic power.

The latest to be fired is Matt Lauer. Weinstein and Spacey lost projects and gave up lucrative deals. Mark Halperin and Charlie Rose were fired. Louie C.K. lost a whole bunch of shows and specials.

And the politically powerful are not affected. Al Franken has not resigned. John Conyers has not resigned. Some people even think Trump is getting off easy, although his controversy is more about words than actions. Bill Clinton is lucky he is from a different era. Roy Moore will become a Senator if a slim majority of Alabama voters approve.

The L.A. Times is taking politicians to task on the difference.

Congress also has more than a whiff of entitlement, accustomed to operating by its own rules while other organizations rush to protect themselves from liability.

Beyond that, some lawmakers argue that voters, not colleagues, should serve as the ultimate judges of those under scrutiny.

When Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) was asked Wednesday about the difference between quick actions taken against non-politicians and lagging moves against members of Congress like Rep. John Conyers Jr. of Michigan, he blurted out one line:

“Who elected them?” he said, referring to the private-sector figures.

This highlights the problem with holding government accountable. This shows how much easier it is to hold the private sector accountable. When people and organizations have to worry about their wallets, they respond.

The market is very effective at regulating behavior. We, the people, have the power hit the economically powerful where it hurts: their wallets.

We have no such power with politicians. In fact, the taxpayers fund their settlements! The government doesn’t stand to lose “business” no matter what its members do. They will still be funded by tax dollars, we have no choice.

And to fire them, we need to wait until the next election cycle. But even then, the politicians at fault might not be in your district. Even if they are, you need a majority to hold them accountable.

Public pressure on politicians does nothing to curtail their power unless it causes them to lose an election. But as consumers, we can immediately affect the power of people in the private sector. They don’t need a slim majority to maintain power, they need a broad customer base excited to hand over their dollars.

The private sector has built-in incentives to punish people who fall into disfavor with customers.

Political power is a creepy club of factions and games. When someone in the private sector is accused of sexual misconduct, their peers quickly disown them. They are banished, exiled, shunned, and may God have mercy on their souls.

But politicians know that their power is not subject to the same constraints as economic power.

Democrats have remained coy about whether or not Franken and Conyers should resign. Some Republicans have called for Roy Moore to drop out of the Alabama Senate race. But President Trump remains supportive. Marco Rubio says it is a “difficult situation.”

Because on the one hand, as a Republican, you want the Republican Party to keep the seat. On the other hand, I personally find the accusations against him to be credible, and I don’t think he has done or said anything in the last month that has helped himself or in any way made me feel better about it,” Rubio said. “But he’s staying in the race, the people of Alabama will have their vote and we’ll move on from there.”

So that is that, colleagues wash their hands of the situation. Let the voters decide their fate. Because that always works so well…

Power Goes to Their Head

I think power does basically the same thing to people whether it is economic or political power.

And if these people are willing to put their careers on the line for a cheap sexual thrill, imagine what else they are capable of.

I don’t know if this says something about human nature, our culture, or men in general. But the lesson I get out of it all is that power imbalances cause people to do crazy things. How easy it is for power to go to someone’s head.

Behavior that everyone knows is completely inappropriate is common among people who feel above others.

Those with economic power learn from their fall from grace. Congress’ solution? They will implement sexual harassment training for politicians and staff, and call it a day.

"Jones Would Be A Disaster" - Trump Tweets "The Last Thing We Need In Alabama" Is A Democrat

President Trump has been active on Twitter this morning, taking aim at the Alabama Senate race...

The last thing we need in Alabama and the U.S. Senate is a Schumer/Pelosi puppet who is WEAK on Crime, WEAK on the Border, Bad for our Military and our great Vets, Bad for our 2nd Amendment, AND WANTS TO RAISES TAXES TO THE SKY. Jones would be a disaster!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 26, 2017

I endorsed Luther Strange in the Alabama Primary. He shot way up in the polls but it wasn’t enough. Can’t let Schumer/Pelosi win this race. Liberal Jones would be BAD!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 26, 2017

President Trump"s de facto endorsement of Roy Moore comes after his comments last week that "We don"t need a liberal Democrat in that seat ... [Moore] totally denies [the accusations]."

And as Duane Norman from the Free Market Shooter blog explains, it is the extreme platform of Roy Moore that has been lost amid the Roy Moore saga.

In spite of an endorsement by President Trump, Luther Strange was defeated by Roy Moore in the Republican primary on September 26th for Alabama’s special Senate election, to fill the seat vacated by now-Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Doug Jones (left), Roy Moore (right)

On November 9th, allegations against Moore began to surface in The Washington Post, alleging that Moore engaged in sexual misconduct with minors in the 1970s:

Leigh Corfman says she was 14 years old when an older man approached her outside a courtroom in Etowah County, Ala. She was sitting on a wooden bench with her mother, they both recall, when the man introduced himself as Roy Moore.

 

It was early 1979 and Moore — now the Republican nominee in Alabama for a U.S. Senate seat — was a 32-year-old assistant district attorney. He struck up a conversation, Corfman and her mother say, and offered to watch the girl while her mother went inside for a child custody hearing.

The allegations quickly began to dominate national headlines; questions began to circulate regarding the conspicuous timing of the accusations, which surfaced with very similar timing to those against President Trump in his election.  After holding a substantial lead, Moore’s polling took a nosedive, as Fox News reported on November 18th…

Alabama hasn’t elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1992. But a Fox News poll taken in the wake of the Moore allegations and released Thursday shows Jones leading Moore 50 percent to 42 percent.

…and the betting odds for a Moore win mirrored Moore’s polling drop.  Though we would normally use Betfair’s exchange for betting odds on this election…

…Betfair’s exchange has extremely thin depth, with only $57,900 wagered on the election, likely due to Betfair’s European location, and this election being a US event.  Instead, we will turn to Predictit, a US-based prediction market “for politics”.  After trading around 90% prior to the allegations, Moore’s odds took a hit, reaching a low of 36%…

…but have subsequently recovered to over 60%. 

And while much of Moore’s recovery can be attributed to voters not trusting the timing of misconduct allegations that occurred in the 1970s, the mainstream media has overlooked another important reason that Jones hasn’t been able to poll higher:

Doug Jones holds absolutely zero moderate positions.

This might not seem like a problem, as “extreme” Senators from both sides of the aisle are commonly elected.  However, for a “blue” candidate to win in a “red” state like Alabama, there has to be at least some moderation on a few key issues to attract Republicans.

Some notable examples are:

• North Dakota’s Heidi Heitkamp: has an “A” rating from the NRA, supports the Keystone XL pipeline, and votes with President Trump’s positions 51% of the time


• Indiana’s Joe Donnelly: has an “A” rating from the NRA, considered “pro-life”, and is a staunch supporter of defense spending


• West Virginia’s Joe Manchin: “identifies” as “pro-life”, co-sponsored Republican balanced budged amendments, and was the only Democrat to support the Energy Tax Prevention Act

All three of the above face re-election this year, and only Heitkamp is expected to even have a chance of a winning re-election bid; Donnelly and Manchin are widely expected to lose.  In particular, Manchin’s re-election bid has been hindered due to his co-sponsoring the 2013 Manchin-Toomey amendment to implement universal background checks on gun sales.  Five years after the fact, West Virginia voters have not forgotten Manchin’s “betrayal” on gun rights.  As this author has stated in the past, gun control is not a winning political position, but it is a particularly difficult one to take in a “red” state.

It should be obvious by now; for a Democratic candidate to win a Senate seat in a “red” state, he/she must hold at least some “red” political positions.

With that in mind, if you look at the positions of Jones, you’ll see that he by and large toes the “blue” party line.  Jones has come out in support of increased restrictions on gun rights:

But Jones has said enough in small soundbites to make clear that he supports expanding background checks to cover gun shows. The Washington Post quoted him saying such an expansion “would be helpful.”

 

His support for gun show regulation is the logical outgrowth of his overarching belief that the Second Amendment has “limitations.”

 

In fact, Jones believes every natural right protected by the Bill of Rights is limited. The Alabama Political Reporter quoted Jones saying, “We’ve got limitations on all constitutional amendments in one form or another.”

…and on abortion…

The Jones campaign, last week, doubled-down on the candidate’s pro-choice platform: “I support a woman’s right and freedom to choose what to do with her body. This is a decision between a woman, her doctor and her Lord. Who am I to tell a woman what to do with her body?”

…and Jones also supports more federal spending, does not support tax cuts, supports climate change regulations, and does not support repealing Obamacare.  In fact, if you look closely through his platform, he is about as “blue” as the majority of Democratic Senators.

Not exactly a formula for success in “red” Alabama.

Even worse, as Free Market Shooter’s Jon Hall has pointed out, Jones has been “promoted” by Hillary Clinton, a state where President Trump nearly doubled Hillary’s vote total:

Look who supports Roy Moore"s opponent in #Alabama - none other than #CrookedHillary!

The effort take down Moore definitely isn"t orchestrated - no way! #Dems haven"t proven their party will stoop to corrupt new lows to get their way... wait - yes they have! #MondayMotivaton pic.twitter.com/N3sVNLhRhW

— Jon Hall ???? (@JonHallFMS) November 20, 2017

It has become obvious; no matter how much (hypocritical) Democrats point the finger of blame at Roy Moore…

…the Democrats have virtually no chance of winning a Senate seat in deep-red Alabama if the candidate doesn’t tailor their positions to attract “red” voters, something Doug Jones’s party-line platform completely fails to do. 

We Don"t Trust Each Other Anymore

Authored by Taylor Lewis via Mises Canada,

To channel Tina Turner briefly, what’s trust got to do with keeping a nation? Everything, it turns out.

Despite an uptick over the past year, Americans’ trust in the key institutions is fading. Congress, big business, national news outlets, the criminal justice system–the organizations that influence our public life most are those the least trusted.

The presidency, now presided by over by the trash-talking and tweeting Donald Trump, continues to see its confidence rating plummet. The media’s near-constant negative reporting doesn’t help Trump’s image.

Events in recent days are guaranteed to worsen domestic relations. Truth in character is a diminishing trait. Blame, as ever, lies on both sides.

The Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson’s latest offering highlights the abundance of lies coming from the White House. Everything from failed campaign disclosures to clumsy press hearing answers get Gerson’s goat. A swamp scribbler par excellence, the Post writer embodies establishment opinion on Trump. And while his criticisms are overwrought - the Trump Administration no more frames facts to create a more favorable image than its predecessor - they represent how many liberals view the President.

Still, Gerson isn’t all wrong. One of his targets - Christian support for Alabama Senate candidate accused lecher Roy Moore - is on the mark. The accusations lobbed against Moore haven’t been fully verified, but it’s hard to think so many similar stories would emerge, all depicting the same scenario. Moore hasn’t denied his predilection for minors, either.

Moore’s behavior doesn’t automatically bar Christian support. But it should cause concern. Yet Christian evangelicals have embraced the godly judge even more since the allegations were put in print. “Many of the people who should be supplying the moral values required by self-government have corrupted themselves,” Gerson writes.

It’s never worth debasing the faith for the earthly practice of politics. Unfortunately, some Christians elevate politics - and politicians - to a divine level. Is it any wonder then that secular liberals would look disdainfully upon politically passionate Christians?

For all the sins of hypocrisy on the right, the left is equally guilty, if not more.

Liberals’ recent about-face on Bill Clinton’s sexual predation is the mea culpa of the 21st century. For decades, Democrat operatives and media flunkies have waved away charges that Clinton raped, fondled, and aggressively pursued women other than his wife.

The outing of Harvey Weinstein as a gross pervert changed all that.

The smutty scandal unearthed by Ronan Farrow was more than sordid revelations of Hollywood hijinks–it’s become a cultural turning point. Going forward, we’ll look back at the pre-Weinstein days as a time more innocent and less corrupt, fictive as it was.

As liberals come forth and express contrition over doubting Clinton’s victims, it’s hard to take their compunction seriously, especially when they waged a propaganda war painting Republicans as theocratic tyrants who want all women to return to the detestable model of June Cleaver. Chris Hayes, Matthew Yglesias, Michelle Goldberg, and others are playing the public for fools if they think that twenty years of playing offensive line for QB Willie will easily be forgotten.

Then there’s Lena Dunham, the boisterous voice of socially-conscious millennials. The “Girls” creator has championed herself as a voice of women and an ally of the abused–until it came knocking on her own door. When a writer for her hit show was accused of raping actress Aurora Perrineau, Dunham snapped to his defense, tweeting “first tenet of my politics is to hold up the people who have held me up.”

Not a bad message. Except that Dunham once claimed women never lie about rape. This selective feminism isn’t doing liberals like Lena any favors. If that wasn’t enough, the very woman who celebrated the extinction of white men was just accused of being a closet racist by a colleague.

Dunham’s a wily example, but not wholly exceptional. Minnesota senator Al Franken has been accused by two women of inappropriate groping. Actor Kevin Spacey was fired from a host of gigs for preying on young men. George Takei is fighting off allegations of imposing himself on men. Russell Simmons has been outed for forcing a 17-year-old to perform oral sex on him. All share a common characteristic: They are outspoken leftists.

There is a devious pattern to all of this. Many of the most vocal ideologues end up hiding dark secrets. Their sanctimony makes it harder to accept our imperfect nature and, in turn, see one another for genuine people to work things out with.

In Eugene O’Neill’s Christian-themed play Days Without End, the demonic doppelgänger Loving mocks the protagonist’s search for higher meaning, declaring that “there is not truth for men, that human life is unimportant and meaningless.”

Without truth, we are base creatures, festering in a bloody power struggle.

“To abandon facts is to abandon freedom,” writes Timothy Snyder. “If nothing is true, then all is spectacle.”

It isn’t just spectacle–it’s a dark void without purpose. And if man lacks purpose, his country, by default, must as well.

At their core, nations are composed of a shared set of truths. When those beliefs diverge to the point of irreconcilability, a schism becomes inevitable. Divided houses don’t stand.

The moral hypocrisy on display by the country’s leading influencers is shredding what little commonality Americans still have. How can a society last when its members no longer believe their neighbors are acting in good faith?

Lewd For Thought: America Is Groping Towards Peak Stupidity

Authored by James George Jatras via The Strategic Culture Foundation,

We’ve long known that Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad. Now it appears that the gods make those marked for destruction really stupid, too.

I don’t know how many people outside the United States have noticed the roaring frenzy of sexual abuse allegations that has now become a centerpiece of American public life.

Each news roundup leads with the latest accusations. Every day a new alleged miscreant pops into view. It’s a wonder that London bookmakers haven’t yet started taking bets on who’s going to be next.

The allegations range from forcible rape to lewd comments to kissing “without consent,” and everything in between. (How many first kisses take place with consent? “You may kiss me now.” You want that in writing? Witnessed and notarized?) The most common alleged offense seems to be groping.

Rarely are distinctions made between actions that constitute serious crimes that ought to be punished accordingly as opposed to what until recently was considered ordinary male initiative. For example, the charge that decades ago Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore sexually fondled a 14-year-old girl (criminal and disqualifying, if true) is conflated with having taken a 17-year-old on a date (with her mother’s permission and without any allegation of sexual contact) or maybe having signed a high school yearbook.

The undifferentiated mixing of felonious and – dare I say it? – normal behaviors amid a welter of allegations shouldn’t be surprising when we consider that the real target isn’t so much sexual assault or misconduct as commonly understood but masculinity itself. Lean in! Smash the Patriarchy! (Does anyone have any idea what a functioning society would look like once any remnant of patriarchy is rooted out? Has there ever been an example of one, aside from some marginal little group starving in a jungle or desert somewhere?)

Never mind that for centuries our society held up a concept of the gentleman who was obligated to respect, protect, and defer to women, reinforced by customary sex roles and Christian moral restraints. But women don’t need that kind of oppression! A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle! We are then shocked that the social breakdown of moral traditions leaves women face to face with the savages among us.

Stupidity reigns.

Reflecting the demented certainty that “there’s no difference” between predatory older men preying on younger females and the much rarer cases where the sexes are reversed, judges have made a point of handing down draconian sentences to women involved with teenage boys. (Mysteriously, the youngsters themselves usually don’t appear to be particularly upset.) In Nevada, a 34-year-old woman was convicted of lewdness with a minor for kissing a 13-year-old boy and putting his hand on her breast – and was given a life sentence. She’d have gotten off lighter if she had killed the kid. (Meanwhile, on the homosexual side of the ledger, the “twink” culture is alive and well.)

Last year, in view of the media feeding frenzy over Donald Trump’s hot microphone comments about women’s allowing rich and famous men to take sexual liberties, it became clear that there was little clarity about what does or doesn’t constitute impermissibly lewd thoughts, words, and actions. The following helpful guide is even more applicable today:

1. LEWD. This means the way virtually all men sometimes think about women, with varying degrees of frequency; the verbal expression of such thoughts by some but far from all men, usually in circumstances of privacy; or acting on such thoughts by a distinct minority of men who assume, often correctly, that they can get away with it because of their wealth, fame, social standing, or good looks. Lewdness, so defined, is inherently threatening and demeaning to women, frail flowers that they are, whom society must rigorously defend against men"s lewd thoughts, words, and actions pending final eradication of testosterone.

 

2. NOT LEWD: ACCEPTABLE. This means that because women are rough and tough and can do anything a man can do except way better, they may, to varying degrees, think about, talk about, or act towards men in a manner analogous to men"s lewdness towards women. This is entirely acceptable. However, if men respond positively to women"s non-lewdness, so defined, that may constitute lewdness on their part depending how women feel about such response.

 

3. NOT LEWD: VIRTUOUS AND PRAISEWORTHY. This means any thoughts, words, or actions formerly considered immoral and falling under any category of the designation LGBTQILSMFT [watch this space for future additions] or certain artistic genres (e.g., hip hop). Such virtuous, praiseworthy non-lewdness, so defined, must be celebrated in parades, awards, and government-sponsored expression. Criticism of or disrespect for – or even insufficient enthusiasm for – this category of non-lewdness constitutes hate speech and is grounds for social ostracism, economic ruination, and, increasingly, legal sanction. [And in the international arena is it justification for aggression against retrograde countries.]

 

Conservatives Smash Keurig Machines In Social Media Uproar

Over the weekend, CNBC reported on five companies that halted all advertisements of their products on Fox News’ Sean Hannity show. These companies included:

• 23 and Me


• Eloquii


• Keurig


• Nature’s Bounty


• Realtor.com

The story began last Thursday, with the sexual allegations against Roy Moore, the Alabama senate candidate who, The WaPo reported that day, made sexual advances towards four teenagers when he was in his early 30s. As of today, there is even a fifth women accusing Moore of sexual misconduct.

After the story broke on Thursday, Fox host Sean Hannity came out and asked his audience to give Moore the benefit of the doubt. According to NYTimes,

Mr. Hannity, describing those actions on his radio show while speaking with a co-host, Lynda McLaughlin, seemed to justify Mr. Moore’s reported conduct by calling one of the encounters “consensual.”

Hours later "On his television show, Mr. Hannity said that the statement “was absolutely wrong” and that he “misspoke.” He then brought up the possibility of accusers lying for money, or for political purposes."

The following day, Angelo Carusone, President of Media Matters, a ‘politically progressive media watchdog’ that monitors “conservative misinformation in the U.S. media” said this to Keurig:

Good afternoon @Keurig. You are currently sponsoring Sean Hannity"s show. He defends child molester Roy Moore and attacks women who speak out against sexual harassment. Please reconsider.

— Angelo Carusone (@GoAngelo) November 10, 2017

On Saturday, Keurig responded by saying “we worked with our media partner and FOX news to stop our ad from airing during the Sean Hannity Show”.

Angelo, thank you for your concern and for bringing this to our attention. We worked with our media partner and FOX news to stop our ad from airing during the Sean Hannity Show.

— Keurig (@Keurig) November 11, 2017

What happened next was a firestorm on social media that swept across the United States late Saturday into Sunday. The bulk of the trend #BoycottKeurig exploded on Sunday, as many conservatives who have boycotted the NFL because of kneeling problems, decided they had to urgently get involved in the latest bitter debate splitting America. We start with ‘Snoop Baily’ who smashed the living hell out of Keurig with a driver.

Join me & @AngeloJohnGage in the #KeurigSmashChallenge & learn how to crush your drives as a bonus.#BoycottKeurig#IStandWithHannity#BuyBlackRifleCoffee#MAGA pic.twitter.com/WH3unkpADI

— Snoop Bailey (@vol80) November 12, 2017

Deplorables back @seanhannity ???? @Keurig is junk anyway pic.twitter.com/aHOT06pcm8

— Proud American (@montgomerychamp) November 12, 2017

I pulled an "Office Space" with my Keurig... Would be a shame if everyone else joined me in the Keurig Smash Challenge #BoycottKeurig #IStandWithHannity #SundayMorning pic.twitter.com/yEADeRC006

— Angelo John Gage (@AngeloJohnGage) November 12, 2017

To keep it short, this is what it looks like when a sizable chunk of the US decides to go "Office Space":

Made a compilation for the #Keurig smash challenge .@seanhannity #IStandWithHannity#BoycottKeurig#KeurigSmashChallenge #KeurigBoycott pic.twitter.com/L8cXAZMgoZ

— ????????Jojoh888???????????? (@jojoh888) November 13, 2017

For a while, Hannity played along with the trend empowering it to grow through his enormous social media network as conservatives were called to action to smash Keurig machines. As the day closed, he then told his audience that he was buying 500 coffee makers to give away on Monday.

Deplorable friends, I am buying 500 coffee makers tomorrow to give away!! Details on radio and TV. Hint; best videos!!

— Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) November 13, 2017

On Monday, however, the Krush The Keurig fun ended when Hannity told his audience to stop smashing the Coffee machines, after Keurig CEO apologizes for ‘taking sides’…

Hannity asks supporters to stop smashing their Keurig machines, says he"ll replace the ones already smashed pic.twitter.com/YVVpbXw6RU

— David Rutz (@DavidRutz) November 13, 2017

Moore"s sexual allegations aside, which have yet to be rejected or confirmed, what is more concerning is the blind willingness of substantial portions of the population to succumb to instant mobilization through social media and or a media figure(s), to collectively work as a unit in completing tasks, in this case the destruction of one"s own property. Ironically, something tells us that for Keurig the news that its machines were being "Office Spaced" across the nation, was music to the CEO"s ears (think replacement value), not to mention the unprecedented media exposure as virtually everyone spent the day talking about the incident (think unlimited advertising).

Keurig is getting more airtime than any other advertiser on Hannity"s show

— Pardes Seleh (@PardesSeleh) November 13, 2017

There"s more: as The Atlantic writes, "in destroying Keurig machines also clearly aligns these people with a global environmentalist movement. In 2015, the “Kill the K-Cup” campaign took hold among those concerned about the net waste of so many pods. A Canadian advocate encouraged people to publicly abandon the machines."

Now America finds itself in the midst of hordes of angry people with clubs who will soon be going through caffeine withdrawal. They could go to Starbucks, though the chain has also been condemned and boycotted by some isolationist conservatives, since earlier this year it promised to hire 10,000 refugees in response to President Trump’s executive order barring them from the country.

Meanwhile, always eager to ride on the latest social media trend, corporate America has promptly noticed the events over the past 72 hours, and it is guaranteed that many more companies will follow in Keurig"s activist footsteps. Who knows: the resultant breaking and smashing of various "resistance" products may just end up being the CapEx spark that the US economy so desperately needs...

"I Believe The Women" - Mitch McConnell Calls For Moore To "Step Aside"

Following Roy Moore"s vehement denial of teen sex abuse allegations on Friday, the weekend saw political furore rising and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell may have just sealed the Bannon-backed candidate"s future.

"It never happened... If you abuse a 14-year-old you shouldn"t be a Senate candidate. I agree with that," Moore said. "But I did not do that."

But, as The Hill reports, Mitch McConnel  on Monday called for GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore to "step aside," according to the Associated Press...

Here is the video of @SenateMajLdr saying he believes the women accusing Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore of sexually assaulting a 14-year old and pursuing other teens. pic.twitter.com/169YSHlXym

— Nick Storm (@NStorm_Politics) November 13, 2017

McConnell was asked if he believes the allegations are true.

"I believe the women," he said.

McConnell is not the first, as multiple lawmakers have called for Moore to step aside following the reports; however, he is the highest-ranking GOP official yet.

Howeverm, as The Hill notes, even if Moore withdraws from the Senate race - something he has said he will not do - Republicans are stuck with his name remaining on the ballot.

The deadline for the party to remove Moore"s name from the ballot passed in October, though Republicans could mount a write-in challenge. Republicans have also floated trying to move back the December election date.

McConnell said on Monday that the party is exploring a write-in bid, though he declined to say specifically who would be the candidate.

"That"s an option we"re looking at, whether or not there is someone who could mount a write in successfully," he said.

Pressed if Sen. Luther Strange (R-Ala.), who Moore defeated in the GOP primary runoff (and was backed by President Trump), would be the write-in candidate, McConnell added: "We"ll see."

Bannon Says GOP "Trying To Destroy Me" As He Sets His Sights On Jeff Flake's Senate Seat

Having successfully led a campaign to elect Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore in his primary runoff against the GOP establishment candidate Luther Strange, former Trump Chief Strategist Steve Bannon has now set his sights on Jeff Flake"s Arizona Senate seat.  At a kickoff rally for Flake"s Republican primary opposition, Dr. Kelli Ward, Bannon said that the Republican establishment, led by Mitch McConnell, John McCain and Bob Corker are actively "trying to destroy him everyday." More from The Hill:

Former chief White House strategist Steve Bannon attacked top Republicans at a primary campaign rally Tuesday, accusing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and other GOP leaders of "trying to destroy him every day," according to the Associated Press.

Bannon also targeted Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) in his speech at a campaign fundraiser for Kelli Ward, a primary challenger to Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), who is one of the many incumbent Republicans that Bannon is targeting in 2018.

The former strategist for President Trump has announced plans for open war against GOP lawmakers who do not completely support Trump"s agenda and his intention to back candidates challenging each Senate Republican except for Ted Cruz (R-Texas).

“It’s an open revolt and it should be. These people hold you in total contempt," Bannon said at the campaign kickoff event. "When they attack a Donald Trump and Dr. Kelli Ward, it"s not Donald Trump and Kelli Ward they"re trying to shut up, it"s you they"re trying to shut up," he said.

Of course, it"s not as if Bannon isn"t actively trying to return the favor.  In a recent interview with Sean Hannity, Bannon doubled down on his previously announced "war on the Republican establishment" vowing to, among other things, "challenge every Republican incumbent except for Ted Cruz" in the upcoming mid-term election cycle.

100%. We are declaring war on the Republican establishment that does not back the agenda that Donald Trump ran on and the president of the United States, and that"s the agenda we know that backs the working men and women...

Karl Rove, Steven Law, these guys should get the joke. Their donors are coming to us because they are tired of having their money burned up by trying to destroy people like Judge Moore. It"s a new game in town. We are going to cut off the oxygen to Mitch McConnell. Mitch McConnell"s biggest asset is the money. We"re going to make it the biggest liability. We"re going after these guys tooth and nail.

They have to understand. There"s a basic agenda that President Trump rand on and won. He carried states that Republicans haven"t carried in living memory -- Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania. This agenda works. The American people voted for it. It"s their responsibility.

There"s a coalition coming together. It"s going to challenge every Republican incumbent except for Ted Cruz. Whether it"s Utah, Wyoming, whether it"s in Oregon.

These names are all going to come out in the next several weeks.

Despite early polling showing that his popularity has waned during his feud with Trump, Flake says that he"s not terribly worried about the matchup with Kelli Ward.

Flake, a vocal opponent of Trump"s populist agenda, told the Associated Press that he was not concerned with a primary defeat."

"I"ve had tough primaries almost every time I"ve run, mostly because of the position I"ve taken on immigration," a hardline issue for both Trump and Bannon. "People say, "Well I can get to the right of Jeff on immigration." But we came out all right."

No matter the outcome, one thing is certain...the 2018 mid-term election cycle will be unlike any in history.

"There's A Time For War": Bannon Vows Full Assault On Republican Establishment

Following Roy Moore"s decisive win in Alabama earlier this week (something we covered here), Steve Bannon has predictably seized on the momentum vowing that it is only the beginning of his "war" against the Republican establishment.  Per McClatchy:

“There’s a time and season for everything under heaven. And sometimes there’s a time for peace. And sometimes there’s a time for war,” he told a raucous, religious revival-style crowd packed into a barn.

“Yeah!” a woman yelled back.

“We’re not going to hug out our differences,” he continued. “We’re going to have to fight for our differences.”

With several seats opening up in the Senate in 2018, including Senator Bob Corker"s of Tennessee who recently announced his retirement, conservatives see no reason why they can"t beat out establishment Senators across the deep south.

The hard-right’s fight for total control of Donald Trump"s Washington is just getting started.

The victory of deeply conservative candidate Roy Moore in Tuesday’s hotly contested Alabama Senate primary has emboldened activists and potential candidates alike, threatening to set off a wave of tough GOP races and ushering in a new era of internecine Republican warfare that party leaders had hoped would end when they won control of the government.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that this is going to be a determining factor for a lot of Deep South states, no question,” said Mississippi State Sen. Chris McDaniel, who lost a hugely controversial primary contest against Sen. Thad Cochran in 2014 but is considering another Senate primary run in 2018. “If Alabama can send a true conservative to Washington, and Texas can send a true conservative to Washington, so can Mississippi and Tennessee and Florida and other states.”

Of course, it"s not just the deep south.  Arizona is also likely to draw a lot of attention from Bannon allies as Senator Jeff Flake, a consistent and vocal Trump Critic, is up for re-election and Senator John McCain is suffering from severe health issues which could result in another special election at any moment.

Led by Breitbart News head Steve Bannon, Trump’s former chief strategist, they sought to make the race a referendum on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has grown increasingly unpopular with the base. And they took Moore’s win as a sign that other incumbents will be vulnerable to the same kind of anti-Washington messaging, even though it’s the Republican Party that controls the White House, the House and the Senate.

“If you can defeat a guy like Luther Strange by simply tying him to Mitch McConnell, what does that mean for guys like Jeff Flake and Dean Heller, who are literally Never Trumpers, or a guy like Roger Wicker, who’s in Senate leadership?” said Andy Surabian, a senior adviser to Great America Alliance, a group with close ties to Bannon that supported Moore in Alabama. His comment was in reference to GOP senators from Arizona, Nevada and Mississippi. “I hope none of them have a long-term lease in Washington D.C.”

Arizona is an obvious next priority for many of these Trump-aligned activists and organizations.

There, Flake—a frequent and vocal Trump critic whom Trump has clashed with repeatedly—is already facing a primary challenge from Kelli Ward, who unsuccessfully primaried Sen. John McCain last cycle but this time around has received Twitter support from Trump. Pro-Ward efforts have been boosted by major Trump donor Robert Mercer, who is close to Bannon. Eric Beach, the co-chair of Great America Alliance who is also assisting Ward, devoted space to the race in a broader USA Today op-ed published after Alabama.

“Establishment, beware,” he wrote. “We’re coming for you in 2018.”

Meanwhile, Nevada also looks to be a target...

Some conservative activists have also turned their attention to the Nevada Senate race. Trump, as president, hasn’t been as critical of Heller as he has been of Flake, but some see an opportunity to highlight Heller’s past criticism of Trump from the 2016 campaign, something they expect will rile up a conservative base already miffed that Hillary Clinton won Nevada (though Heller said last month—close to a year after the election—that he did vote for Trump).

On Tuesday night, Heller’s primary challenger, Danny Tarkanian, tweeted his congratulations to Moore and added: “Primary voters showed they"ll drain the swamp across country.” In an interview with McClatchy ahead of the election, he argued that Heller would be in a weaker position with the staunchly pro-Trump GOP base than Strange was, because Strange embraced Trump.

“I haven’t seen that Luther Strange was a Never Trumper, that he did anything against Trump,” said Tarkanian, who has run for office multiple times before but met with Bannon recently. “On the contrary, Heller was one of the first Never Trumpers in Nevada. He cost Trump the election in Nevada.”

And while it"s impossible to predict how these various races will play out, it seems fairly certain that 2018 won"t be a predictable and/or tame off-year election season.

Trump Bars Breitbart From Alabama Rally As Feud With Bannon Escalates

Apparently, this is what Steve Bannon meant when he swore he would never turn on his old boss during a series of interviews he gave after leaving the West Wing.

The simmering feud between Breitbart and President Donald Trump intensified on Friday as the Trump communications team barred a Breitbart reporter from the press pool during a Trump rally in Alabama, where the president was campaigning for Luther Strange (aka "Big L") - his pick to permanently fill the Alabama senate seat vacated by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Trump announced his support for Strange weeks ago, eliciting howls of outrage from Bannon and Breitbart, who have accused Strange of being a “swamp creature” and blasted him for his association with former Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley, who resigned earlier this year following a widely publicized sex scandal. Strange served as attorney general of Alabama (Sessions’ old job) under Bentley, and has been working with Trump for months after being appointed by Bentley to temporarily fill Sessions" old seat. 

And Breitbart is denied entry into Trump-Strange rally #alpolitics pic.twitter.com/K9cczUvbrP

— Jeff Poor (@jeff_poor) September 22, 2017

But for better or worse, Strange is Trump"s man - for now, at least - and the president showered him with praise during the rally. But while cycling through his greatest hits (everything from the second amendment, to Hillary-bashing, to his promised border wall), he found time to slip in a subtle dig at Bannon, joking that he had "fired" certain former staffers for disloyalty. Bannon and Breitbart have consistently supported  Alabama Supreme Court Roy Moore, who will face off against Strange in Tuesday"s crucial Republican runoff primary.

Anyone who has closely followed the many staffing changes at the White House will, of course, remember that Bannon and the White House communications department have offered conflicting accounts of the terms of his departure, with Bannon insisting that he left voluntarily, while the communications staff have suggested that he was fired.

A similar ambiguity exists surrounding the terms of Bannon loyalist and former Breitbart employee Sebastian Gorka"s departure, who, as luck would have it, appeared on Fox Business just minutes before Trump took the stage to slam the president over his support for Strange.

In a brief segment, Gorka criticized Strange for his association with Bentley and claimed that Moore was the true “MAGA” candidate.

* * *

Of course, when Bannon – who is back running Breitbart – promised that he wouldn’t use the website as a cudgel against Trump, he did so with the caveat that Breitbart would hold the administration accountable should it abandon the nationalist, populist agenda that Trump promised the American people during the campaign.

To wit, Breitbart has become increasingly frustrated with Trump’s perceived abdication of his nationalist agenda by sending more troops to Afghanistan (after promising to bring troops home) and, more intolerably, his decision to allow DACA to be preserved in law by striking a deal with “Chuck and Nancy.”

And now it’s decided to turn its guns on Trump, publishing now fewer than hald a dozen anti-Strange or anti-Trump headlines during the Trump rally last night.

More than a half dozen anti-Trump headlines running on Breitbart tonight

— Gabriel Sherman (@gabrielsherman) September 22, 2017

* * *

And now, Axios is reporting that Steve Bannon has been confirmed to headline a Roy Moore rally in Alabama Sunday night, alongside Phil Robertson of the popular show “Duck Dynasty.” Axios, which noted that Strange is also the pick of Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a perennial Bannon foe, explained that “for Bannon to make a rare public appearance in such close proximity to Trump shows how invested he is in the race specifically, and attacking McConnell more generally.” But in attacking McConnell, in this instance, he is also striking at Trump.

In keeping with his promise to always support Trump against the establishment forces that Bannon says are trying to co-opt the Trump presidency, Axios reported that the Bannon camp is trying to spin the attacks against Strange as an indirect way of “supporting” Trump.

"Steve is coming to Alabama to support President Trump against the Washington establishment and Mitch McConnell. Steve views Judge Moore as a fierce advocate of Trump and the values he campaigned on."

To be sure, Breitbart’s strategy may be working. Trump appeared to admit during the rally last night that his Strange endorsement may have been a mistake, and that he would support Moore if he wins.

While the crowd at Friday’s rally cheered mightily for Trump, the cheers for his chosen candidate were less enthusiastic. As of Saturday afternoon, Moore leads Strange by nearly 9 percentage points in the RealClearPolitics polling average.

Whoever wins Tuesday’s primary has a virtual lock on the senate seat. And as the race draws closer, we expect to hear more from Trump. But will Breitbart succeed in convincing him to change his endorsement?

Given Trump’s distaste for “losers”, we imagine it’s not out of the question.