Your Bag of Nothing for Friday, October 4, 2024

  • I recently discovered Sharon McMahon, who feels comfortable labeling herself America’s Government Teacher. Her book currently tops the NY Times Best Sellers Hardcover Nonfiction list. What I think is the most prestigious category. I think she’s the real deal; she’s very earnest and non-partisan, though she comes across as a bit annoying for my personal taste. I like how she states that a lot of Americans confuse bias for being unfactual. Here’s a recent article on her from Time.
    • McMahon’s content offers no inside information or breaking news. She says nothing any mildly motivated voter couldn’t find on Wikipedia, or in a government textbook. But there’s something reassuring and refreshing about her midwestern earnestness, her crisp grasp of the subject matter, and the fact that it’s not easy to tell who she’d vote for. “I decided, rather than arguing with people who were confidently wrong on the internet, that I would just start making some very short explainer nonpartisan videos,” she says. “Not telling you who to vote for, not telling you why this candidate was better than that candidate, but helping you obtain the information you needed to be able to make an educated decision for yourself.” One popular recent post compared the economic plans from the Trump and Harris teams; another is a blow-by-blow dismantling of the saying that “the U.S. is a republic, not a democracy.”  
  • Some rightful justice was handed down yesterday. She was convicted of state crimes, so even if Trump is re-elected, it’s out of his jurisdiction, and he can’t pardon her. Only the Governor of Colorado would have the power to pardon or commute her sentence for these state convictions, and he’ll be in office for at least two more years.
    • Tina Peters is an American former County Clerk of Mesa County, Colorado, and the first election official in the U.S. convicted of criminal charges related to stolen election conspiracy theories surrounding the 2020 United States presidential election.
    • She’s definitely eating some humble pie after laughing at the notion of being convicted and saying she would be on a beach.

    • I was surprised I listened to the entire 13 minutes of the sentencing. The judge was not falling for her antics. It just kept pulling me in, especially when the prosecution reminded the judge he missed one of the charges, and the judge slapped on another 15 months. I can’t imagine how defeating that must have felt, but it was warranted.

    • If Trump loses the election, get your popcorn ready. The amount of civil unrest and legal proceedings we’ll see until inauguration day may put the 2000 election to shame.
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