The Wednesday Read

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Happy Hump Day! Here are the topics for today’s column:

  • CI 126, 127, and 128
  • Big Money for Tester
  • U.S. Senator Bob Menendez
  • RIP Redbox

CI 126, 127 AND 128:

The Montana Free Press (MTFP) reports that State District Court Judge Mike Menahan in Helena on Tuesday approved a temporary order to remedy a snafu between election officials and ballot issue committees over whether inactive voters should be able to sign initiative petitions.

It was also reported that a temporary restraining order directed the secretary of state to “restore the state software system to allow the verification of inactive voters’ signatures” over the weekend. Beginning Monday, July 22, the order instructs counties to review and resubmit eligible signatures that were previously blocked from the state system.

According to the MTFP, the judge said that the secretary’s abrupt finding risked infringing on Montanans’ constitutional right to participate in the initiative process.

I doubt this is the end of the fight. I do believe that Menahan made the right decision and if it gets to the Montana Supreme Court, they will back up his decision.

Read the full report from the MTFP HERE.

BIG MONEY FOR TESTER:

Lee Newspapers is reporting that Montana’s U.S. Senate race continues to break financial records, with incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester reporting raising about $10.5 million over the second quarter of the year when accounting for a regular finance report and a pre-primary haul.

It was also reported by Lee Newspapers that Tester’s opponent, Republican and former Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy, reported bringing in about half of that, $5.3 million, over the same period when accounting for a regular report and the pre-primary money. Over the period Sheehy loaned his campaign $1 million, bringing his self-financing total to $2.25 million this race.

Sheehy has loaned his campaign $2.25 million. Great googly moogly.

As for Tester, he claims he is kicking Sheehy’s ass according to internal polling. (Source)

I think the more people get to know Sheehy and his shady past, the less likely they will vote for him.

U.S. SENATOR BOB MENENDEZ:

Reuters is reporting that U.S. Senator Bob Menendez was convicted on Tuesday on all 16 criminal counts he faced including bribery at his corruption trial in Manhattan federal court, completing the once-powerful New Jersey Democrat’s dramatic downfall.

It was also reported that senior Democrats including U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and fellow New Jersey Senator Cory Booker quickly called on Menendez, who has served in the Senate since 2006 and avoided conviction in a prior 2017 corruption trial due to a deadlocked jury, to resign from the chamber.

It will be interesting to see if Menendez tries to keep his senate seat as he appeals his conviction. If he does not resign, the Senate could vote to expel him. They would need 67 votes to do that. (Source)

RIP REDBOX:

The New York Post and other sources are reporting that RedBox the once beloved movie rental kiosk and rival of video store Blockbuster, is shutting down after its parent company filed for bankruptcy. Redbox’s 24,000 rental kiosks will be closed as the company moves to liquidate its assets.

So, the big question is, do you have to return the rented DVDs to RedBox? (Asking for a friend)

Read the complete story from the NY Post HERE.

## GOD BLESS AMERICA ##

17 thoughts on “The Wednesday Read”

  2. I wondered how long this was going to take.

    MAGAs launching racist attacks on the Indian wife of JD Vance, and Vance himself for having an Indian wife. Totally expected after the example of their treatment of Nikki Haley.

    Some progressive taking shots too, but for different reasons.

    Trump truly is making America great again … if “great” was ever defined as racist/misogynistic/antisemitic/homophobic/insert-hate-here-istic.

    White supremacist Nick Fuentes sums it up:

    “Who is this guy, really?” Fuentes said on his podcast. “Do we really expect that the guy who has an Indian wife and named their kid Vivek is going to support white identity?”

    Bingo MAGA!

    https://www.newsweek.com/jd-vance-wife-attacks-maga-trump-running-mate-1926194

    • If only we could be as unified as your party Terry.

      I’m afraid these couple dissenters could doom all of us.

      • No one really cares about the internal dissent, Swede. It’s the baring of the true MAGA soul that’s of interest.

        Much like the misogyny in relation to the female Secret Service agents displayed here the past couple days.

    • Thanks. This story gets wilder every day. I’m thinking the days are numbered for Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle. -JmB

    • Mary, you tube is a great resource. You have to wade through the nonsense, but you will find the latest info. Like this article that mentions that his parents were worried why their kid was missing and called the police. I have worked with kids my entire adult life, normal kids, ED kids, special needs kids, and even eight years with deaf kids. I can pretty much recognize special needs kids at a glance. Judging from this kid’s bio, I suspect he’s on the autism spectrum, probably Asperger’s syndrome. And if that’s the case, the parents should be charged with murder for giving him an AR. Shooting is NOT therapy for special needs kids!

      • I don’t watch videos – snippets maybe of a few moving picture news clips. I read. But thanks.

      • correction…Twitter…I watched AlJazeera & BBC interviews…that were with attendees at the rally after the shootings.

  4. I wonder who committed on this blog that some liberal judge would drag this across the finish line.

      • And I wonder who commented that if a judge did anything it would be because the bogus roadblock being thrown up by SOS had constitutional issues.

        “According to the MTFP, the judge said that the secretary’s abrupt finding risked infringing on Montanans’ constitutional right to participate in the initiative process.”

        Sure a lot of animosity toward judges from some quarters here considering how often the state and national Republican party has resorted to the courts to try and block Biden administration initiatives, and/or cry to judges to legislate from the bench and change the laws of the land in conservatives’ favor. How many lawsuits has Knudie alone filed?

  5. I see one possible loophole in the judge’s order.

    “‘​​The Secretary shall, through 12:00 PM on July 24, 2024, accept from counties and count the signatures of any previously rejected inactive voters identified above, who have been verified by a county and submitted to the Secretary,’ the order states.”

    So it orders SOS to accept any signatures SHE previously rejected with the software change. But based on previous reporting, it seemed like some of the counties had decided to reject inactive voter signatures up front based on the faulty guidance, so presumably they would never have got to the central verification system in the first place. Radical right county clerks like our previous one could just not bother to resubmit signatures they themselves culled for being inactive and never sent to SOS.

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