Jim Naureckas at FAIR notes the lack of "liberal" media coverage of October 11, the date of the voter registration deadline in 15 states and American Samoa -- odd, considering all the really unimportant things they choose to blather on about. Contrary to what you may have heard, the vast majority of folks who don't vote in American elections aren't registered to vote, and yet you don't hear very much about it anywhere outside of Rachel Maddow's MSNBC show; why, it's almost like that's the idea.
Three former detainees sue CIA contract psychologists who allegedly masterminded the CIA's torture program -- and can compel testimony from two former CIA officials. Not just any former CIA officials, either, but former a CIA Counterterrorism Center head and a former CIA acting general counsel. Now cue the right-wing whining machine about how "national security" will be compromised by such testimony. And folks also remember that the CIA torture program is one Donald Trump would bring back, right?
Erik J. Engstrom and Jason M. Roberts remind us (at the Washington Post) that, though the 4th Circuit struck down most of North Carolina's horrible Voter ID law, the court left in place the part of the law prohibiting straight-ticket voting. That may not sound like a big deal, when you think of the relatively short amount of time that'll add to one person's time voting, but more than one person will vote on Election Day, and that added time is going to add up to longer lines, voters going home, and voters failing to finish ballots. Do I need to add that this phenomenon tends to happen more in black areas?
Brace yourself, because this Hill piece about "States Confront(ing) Exploding Pension Costs" is a terrible article. Luckily, paragraph 11 gives it away when it describes Illinois's "obligations" as "due over the lifetime of current retirees and state employees who will be owed retirement benefits" -- at which point, hopefully, you remember that they typically give you the ZOMG $1.75 TRILLYUNZ!!!! scare number without adding "over 40 years," since that would, after all, make the scare number seem a lot less scary. Remembering that America has over 300 state and local pension funds would also make that number seem a lot less scary, as would recognizing that dividing a 40-year pension "liability" by tax revenues for one year is an absurd exercise. But there's money to be made in scaring people about pension fund "shortfalls" -- money that could be diverted to bankster hedge funds for the better returns that don't materialize, or money that could be diverted away from pension funds into corporate cronies' pockets for "job creation."
Finally, dig this campaign ad coming from Louisiana Republican U.S. Senate candidate John Kennedy. Unfavorable comparisons to Steve Martin's "What I Believe" routine are of course inevitable, but what to make of the last line? "I believe that love is the answer," Mr. Kennedy intones, as the camera pans over apparent photos of his family, "but you oughta own a handgun just in case." Ah, in case the family turns out for Charles Boustany on primary day? I sure hope not.
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