Trump last night inadvertently gave the reasons of why voting systems need to be in control of individual states

 My takeaway from Trump's address last night is not that Trump made a case for federal control of elections, but that he made the case for 50 states (or even 18 swing states)to continue keeping their own individual control. Why? It is far more difficult to control the mechanics of the vote, including the counting and casting methods, by dealing with 50 separate systems and state laws, especially if bipartisan or public eyes are a part of the process, than it is if the methods are in one federal hand.

Update i7/22/2026. OOOps. It happened. 400 non-citizens did vote in NJ in 2024, though the impact was 0 on the outcome. Kudos for NJ Governor for taking responsibility and reporting it. I wonder if other states had the same computer glitch. that was found on audit by NJ itself. Also, of the thousands of non-citizens who could have voted, only a relatively few actually voted. This at least shows another reason why not having federally run elections .Since this was a glitch in the motor/voter system, it was not an intentional crime or conspiracy to paint it as one."A small number of ineligible ballots can affect the outcome in very close elections, but such occurrences are exceedingly rare. Sherrill won her 2025 election by nearly half a million votes. In all, 3.3 million ballots were cast in that election, and 400 ineligible votes would amount to about one one-hundredth of a percent of all votes cast." per news reports by NSNOW

Trump's threat is that he will ignore the states' results and seize control of the ballots or other evidence post-election day using force (ICE, FBI, National Guard?) if necessary, destroying any credible chain of evidence that partisan hands tinkered or did not tinker with the evidence.. In the name of voter integrity,, Trump's actions would destroy their integrity.

Some, like Tom Rogers, have recently expressed fears that the anger of street demonstrators that resulted would then give Trump the rationale to declare a national emergency and bring in the troops to take over. Bye-bye, democracy, as the 2026 midterms are overturned. That is a scenario that is not far-fetched, given Trump's past attempts, stopped by his military aides and the Joint Chiefs, in his first term during the George Floyd/Lafayette Square unrests. He wanted to call in the military to shoot the demonstrators in the legs.https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/msnbc-founder-tom-rogers-trump-130000874.html

The fragmentation of election rules that are supervised at the county level in any case, makes it very difficult to rig or fix an election for state or presidential elections. A good example of that is that three county clerks in Colorado followed Trump's orders to "secure" the ballots, meaning only Trump minions could control them for his benefit and tinkering, locking them up away from bipartisan eyes...All three were removed from supervising elections by the state's Secretary of State. One of those clerks who attempted a cover-up, Tina Peters, became Trump's poster child of approval for doing that despite her being sent to prison for violating state laws designed to prevent that act, convicted by a jury and losing her appeals.. Even then, one county like hers did not make a difference in the statewide or presidential electoral count. It is feared Trump will try to do that on a much wider scale, nationwide, using a pretext of suspicion without evidence to justify such seizures or on his orders..

Any evidence that even Russia tried to use active measures to support Trump in 2020 while simultaneously China tried to achieve the opposite is not in doubt. That either succeeded in hacking or breaking into the mechanics of the vote is without evidence and reported so by Trump's own intelligence services and directors in charge when Trump was their boss. There is a difference between foreign actors and illegal voters trying active measures and actually tinkering with the mechanics and methods that changed the outcome that those bad actors wanted. Thanks to diffused 50 state systems, they failed to change the outcome.

Protecting those who are in charge of the ballots is the most important factor in determining whether the elections are fair and free. 98 percent of ballots cast are cast on paper by hand (all mail-in ballots and all in polling places in Colorado are on paper) If a mechanical machine is used, there is a printout of their vote on a machine given to the voter, for the record,, and therefore subject to verification by ninjas and interminable audits by officials per their own state rules and regulations. Those have been ongoing for 6 years, and still no evidence has been found that would have changed any outcome in 2020 or 2024.

The ultimate potential interference in any election is who controls the paper, handwritten or printout of those ballots post-election day, as well as other physical evidence. One party ordering armed federal agents under the control of that party is not to be trusted, no matter which political party it is. However, that is what the Trump administration is trying to make a case for by whipping up public sentiment with reports of attempts by foreign actors or non-citizens to spread their propaganda. Still, there is no evidence they hacked the voting and tabulation systems or changed the outcome. John Ratcliffe, former director of national intelligence under Trump v.1 and now director of the CIA. in Trump v.II. He is in the position to know, and he ought to testify to Congress under oath.. Getting voting lists? No hacking needed; just look online or order and pay for it from a service. The actual systems were the same and in place in both elections. The only difference is that Trump lost in 2020 and won in 2024.

There will be many loyal MAGA who will accept what Trump claimed as the gospel truth and never give it another thought or question it. So ask yourselves, MAGA, when Trump won in 2024, the election went just fine even though nothing had changed regarding the mechanics of voting systems. In fact, his opponents were in power at that time. The only difference was that in 2020 Trump lost, and in 2024 he won.

There will be many voices objecting to Trump's "address" to the country last night and calling out his lies. Whether MAGA preferred press reports them will be interesting to observe.

For data on 98% of votes already are cast on paper or with a paper trail,

https://www.eac.gov/news/2025/06/30/us-election-assistance-commission-releases-2024-election-administration-and-voting

Fragmentation of election rules and control at the county level: https://www.ncsl.org/elections-and-campaigns/election-administration-at-state-and-local-levels

Threats by Trump to seize election evidence using. law enforcement to do so: https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/preparing-law-enforcement-demands-election-materials

Felicia Muftic is a former Denver elections official.

Colorado's wildfires , preventing, and fighting them, got whacked by Trump's budget chainsaws

 I have seen comments to postings about the wildfires in Colorado that the fault is poor forest management. FYI65% forests in Colorado are federally owned or controlled and the Trump administration took a chainsaw to agencies and their ability to fight wildfires this spring and last year.

https://csfs.colostate.edu/forests-trees/colorado-land-ownership/

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/u-s-forest-service-cuts-raise-concerns-on-protecting-public-lands-and-fighting-wildfires

"While Trump bills Canada for smoke, his Forest Service is closing 57 of its 77 research labs. On the chopping block: the Pacific Wildland Fire Sciences Laboratory in Seattle, the lab behind the national Fire and Smoke Map, the exact tool millions of Americans opened this week to see whether the air outside was safe for their kids and grandkids.

The forecasts that tell officials when to warn you and when to evacuate you. That's on top of the roughly 600 National Weather Service staffers his administration already cut," from the website of the other 98% Facebook posting."

Sometimes, well-meaning tenderfeet from the East Coast or Midwest like to give us in Colorado advice about how to deal with wildfires. Trump's vacuuming underbrush is typical. His ignorance and reulting policies have resulted in the Forest Service closing 57 of its 77 research labs, and money for prevention as well. One I got the. other day wondered why homeowners just don't have wells and hose down their property. My response to that was the most kind I could muster: The degree of ignorance is no excuse, and that gem of advice would result in the homeowner becoming a burnt piece of toast. I highly recommend that you also become better educated about the issue and visit the following site for advice from one of the eminent experts, Colorado State University Forestry Service. https://csfs.colostate.edu/

"I don't know where you live, but it does not sound like Colorado...You need to spend some time and get more knowledgeable about the kinds and power of wildfires in the Colorado Rocky Mountains.. If you have ever been near one, you will realize that a handheld hose from a well is no match for a wind-driven inferno, and if you stand there sprinkling your abode instead of evacuating, you will be toast. Some areas do not have "homes" in certain designated national forests; just establishing a perimeter in rocky and mountainous terrain in a challenge. Our wildfires are better known as crown fires and embers jumping onto closely standing, highly flammable pine forests. They leap and spread from treetop to treetop. I have been near one that went 10 miles in one day, and another 23 miles in 3 days. Others border "urban" areas or cabin subdivisions. And like our area, our Fraser Winter Park area governments with urban interface federal grants and state resources over the past several years have just cut down every pine tree for firebreaks for at least one mile downwind from a national forest and prevailing winds..Wind-borne embers can jump miles ahead and start new ones. Homeowners themselves remove vegetation near buildings. Even then, we are always in jeopardy: Mother Nature can be frighteningly awesome, and it is then that you realize how puny and helpless man is. "

Aside from often unreachable terrain, due to global warming, over the past decade, beetles that feasted on lodgepole pines survived winters when they once were killled by well below zero temperatures. The result is the death of much of our ladgepole pine forests, and the affected trees eventually fell to the ground. We are talking many, many square miles in mostly very rugged areas., already inaccessible. Those have lain there for the past few years, making it difficult to traverse the forests and providing fuel for raging fires, like the one burning in Routt Cunty near Steamboat Springs.

In response to memes that gin up fear of communism

 On one of my Facebook pages, I have seen many a meme attempting to paint Democrats (and even some Republicans) as communists.  Should I bother to reply or even care about such memes?  Given that I still believe there are thinking, curious people who may be tuning in, I replied with the following in the hope that simply shouting memes does little to change opinions, and perhaps some can still be introspective and can question slogans.   My response:

One thing we agree on is that communism is bad, but what is your definition of it? If anything to the left of you is communist, then I think there is a lack of education about political theories. In practice, though, what we remember about soviet communism is the use of theory to justify an absolute dictatorship. Planned and federal control of all elements of the economy failed for sure, and there were no civil or individual rights or fair and free elections. That and fascism share that control over thought and expression, and repress opponents by fear and force. Instead of Marxist ideology, the rationale for fascist repression is loyalty to their great leader with the support of the ultra-rich and powerful. Modern democratic societies are a balance and a blend of both capitalist and government provision, with control by democratic means,..including fair and free elections, whose representatives create the laws that rule. It is not ruled by some all-powerful person who demands obedience to his executive orders. I reject both communism and fascism.

Clarity of thought and mssaging: an example of how Democrats can break through

  Here is an example of being clear on issues that was devised by my local Democratic Party...in Grand County, Colorado.  It may not have a one-word umbrella, but it is at least a step in the right direction and a political plank that local candidates can run on. https://grandcountydems.org/?utm_source=Grand%20Dems%20email%20list&utm_campaign=a20073d1d2-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2026_04_30_06_49_COPY_02&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-0560435747-522472729    )

Go home, JD Vance. By my definitiion you are not a real American

 In 2025, JD Vance attempted to make the case that the real Americans were those born before the Civil War, in the most absurd claim that real Americans, as he defined them, were descendants of such settlers. It was one of the most racist and white nationalist concepts one could imagine, but it also was evidence to me that MAGA's core contained many like him. The nation was founded on an idea that people could govern themselves and that "all men were created equal" with the inalienable right to pursue life, liberty, and happiness.  It was not founded solely by white immigrants from England, and even my ancestral immigrants from Yorkshire settling in the colonies had already married a few Germans before the American Revolution, as recent DNA and past research into ancestors by family members and my own at the Library of Congress indicated.  So let us define who is a real American, Vance, and with my own (absurd ) definition, I proclaim I am a real American, and you are not. In fact, Vance, go home.

My (Absurd) Definition of who is a real American: If you cannot trace your ancestry to before 1776, you are not a real American. Only real Americans are those who are members of the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) , who take pride in the fact that they were already in the colonies before 1776.  There was a time in my eastern Oklahoma childhood in the Jim Crow 1950's when such ancestry counted in defining social status, and, yes, I even had a small scholarship from the local DAR chapter for college tuition. So take that, Vance. By my definition, just finding your roots in Civil War Appalachia does not count. Go home, Vance. You are not a real American as I (arbitrarily) define it.

https://thereconstructionera.com/j-d-vance-on-the-civil-war-and-citizenship/

My list of grievances against Trump in 2026 eerily resemble those lists in the Declaration of Independence from the KIng in 1776

 July 4 this year is not for me a celebration with joy and pride, but trepidation that we are on the verge of restoring the kind of tyranny we revolted against in 1776.  In 1776, the reasons for the Declaration were laid out in a list of grievances against the King in that historic document.  Many of those reasons are similar to the deeds and actions of President Trump, who has amassed  such power and wealth even our founders could never have envisioned.  I wrote the following exactly one year ago: I could have written it today.    

July 4, 2025

My Declaration of Independence from King Trump and a List of Grievances.

As we celebrate the Declaration of Independence from a king in 1776, we also decry the re-establishment of one who thinks and acts like one in 2025. In the Declaration of Independence of 1776, a list of grievances against the King (a bill of particulars) was presented as the reasons for declaring independence.

Here are mine (in no particular order of importance.

• He claims his executive orders are the law of the land and acts accordingly.
• He accumulates vast wealth from enterprises that include customers who are foreigners..
• He uses "his" active army to repress protestors and put fear into the hearts of those who would show their anger toward his policies
• He forces by threat and fear his parliament to pass legislation that does not reflect the will of each member's own constituents
• He sets up prisons to contain those who have no chance to protest and builds concentration camps which deprive persons of their rights or send them to foreign, harsh prisons, without any evidence that they committed crimes other than having documents of status violations.
• His masked, unmarked, street-clothed federal agents snatch those off the street to arrest targets or those who look like they are from south of our border without warrants, sometimes using excessive force...
• He threatens to delist media that do not toe his line and calls all media that criticize him liars
• He threatens to remove federal funding from education that does not reflect his ideology or the ideology of his core supporters in his political party, while his legislative initiatives are approved by around 30% of those polled who know what is in it, the contents about which he lies on the favored media outlets he owns or approves.
• He abuses his power by using "his" Department of Justice to investigate opponents without any probable cause as a tool to threaten opponents to his reign or make examples of them to frighten others into silence.
• He reverses the rights of minorities, religious or love preferences, and non-whites by removing all references to diversity, equity, and inclusion in any federal documents he controls... reinstating the ability of the federal government to discriminate against them again. He wants to imprison those he plans to expel from this country without the right of habeas corpus.
• He adopts all policies of white Christian nationalists written in a document as a blueprint for the takeover of the federal government and institutes them by installing their authors in key positions
• He refuses to confirm whether he would honor treaties or come to the defense of allies who are attacked and have signed such a treaty...NATO
• He ignores court orders of any court lower than the Supreme Court if he does not like the ruling..
• He tries to sell off public lands, institutes tariffs, deprives the poor of health care and nutrition programs to compensate for the loss of income to the treasury due to tax favors and reductions granted to the very rich. 
• He pardons criminals who were found guilty by jury trial or had already confessed to crimes because they were his supporters, contributors, or friends of his. In so doing, he encourages those to commit crimes on his behalf in the future, believing they, too, would be pardoned..

Declaration of Independence: A Transcription | National Archives

If the Trump regime attempts to interfere the nidterms, the State AG's will be ready for the fight

 Nicolle Wallace's interview the week before the 4th with Jack Smith, the prosecutor in the Jan. 6 insurrection, warned about the November 2026 elections and feared interference by Trump's feds. The only institutions still able to prosecute and deal with this are the 50 state attorneys general and prosecuting under state statutes. https://www.yahoo.com/.../jack-smith-says-very-concerned...

Heads up, everyone. Lucky for Colorado, Phil Weiser is still Attorney General and Jena Griswold is the Secretary of /state and chief election official for the state. They have successfully defied Trump's feds in the matter of Tina Peters by using state statutes to prosecute. That kept the feds at bay (until Gov. Polis caved on the terms of her sentence and now fired the parole board members who defied him.) Weiser is the Democratic candidate for Governor per the primary, and Griswold is likewise the winning Democrat in the primary, seeking to replace Weiser as AG. Both have got invaluable experience in matters like this, thanks to the Peters case.. I have no doubt that the FBI and ICE will try to confiscate and control the election results and the ballots on Trump's orders and behalf. Expect fireworks if they try. All AG's but the Trump loyalists in the other states are geared up for the fight for democracy, too.

In wake of success of democraic socialist candidates, the right goes bonkers:..communists.. they shout. rev;i7/5/2026

 Calling democratic socialists "communists' echoes the 1950s Red Scare. Will it work in 2026? It might with those of a certain age, but also there are those who may also remember McCarthyism went down in flames as the BS was exposed.  However, there is a note of caution: within the Democratic Socialist banner, there are those who may deserve to be feared and should be marginalized. 

As MAGA tries to digest the recent wins of democratic socialists (of the Bernie Sanders type, ye gads) in a limited number of blue urban legislative districts, including Denver, they are going bonkers and screeching that they are all communists... exhibiting both their ignorance of any differences within the movement itself and accepting the reality on the ground that many see their standard of living declining. There is a lack of awareness that Trump is taking them in a fascist-like direction as well.

The current success of the democratic socialist candidates is based on the failure of both major political parties to address the growing gap between the very rich and the rest of us and a realization by many that their standard of living is declining. The word "affordability" of groceries, home ownership, and energy identified the symptoms, if not the cause.  

This "celebration" of the 250th anniversary of our democracy on July 4 is dampened by an awareness of many that the greatest danger to the kind of democracy we have known for those 250 years is Donald Trump and his loyal band of followers. Never before have we had a government that is planning to use our intelligence and FBI services to interfere in our domestic elections. It is an opportunity to educate voters about democracy and what the real threat to its existence is in 2026: fascism

Be aware that there are elements in the democratic socialist movement that indeed support the communist model and ideology. Not all are of the Bernie Sanders or even the FDR type. FDR's greatest contribution was permitting some socialist ideas to be enacted, but also kept capitalism as the foundational economic system. I count myself in the FDR tradition. The Atlantic recently raised a red flag: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/07/dsa-communist-socialist-democrats/

The only antidote to communism or fascism is democracy, which is the ultimate enemy of dictatorships, the kind of governing methods shared by both communists and fascists.The Democratic Party's antidote is to propose a realistic, believable platform to make life more affordable. So far they have been consumed by attacks on Trump and his cohorts. They must position themselves as the ones who can best address the affordability issue: this may involve adopting some of the positive solutions to the affordability issue proposed by the democratic socialists, while reaffirming a well-regulated capitalism as the basic economic system of America.

In jeopardy is Democracy, which Trump has set about dismantling step by step by circumventing or defying the rule of law and replacing it with rule by him. He is doing it with a power-bloated executive branch, assembled with a concerted effort in one year with the help of his 6-3 Supreme Court, suppression of potentially unfriendly voters and media, use of fear and revenge to discipline anyone not 100% loyal to him, whipping Congress into yes nodders, and partial control over the Supreme Court. All of this is coupled with his alliance with oligarchs and white nationalist racism. and condoning violence by ICE and Jan.6ers,.. These are classic characteristics of fascism.

A note about Colorado: A mixed result due to a variety of factors. An attempt to condemn democratic socialists as being antisemitic was not an issue, since those winning Democratic primaries included Jews, including Phil Weiser for governor, replacing another Jewish governor, outgoing Jared Polis. Those who won, like Jena Griswold, current Secretary of State, trounced her three opponents for Attorney General(in Grand County, over 53% and statewide over 46% of the total) and Weiser(Attorney General) ,, had shown energy, skill, and determination and won in protecting voter integrity from Trump's attempt to take state control over the process, including the Tina Peters case. Rep. Jason Crow (D -CO) said it best on MSNOW the day after the election: Colorado wanted a street fighter against Trump and defeated multi-term Congressman Diana DeGette and Sen.Michael Bennet, who lost the primary for Governor, had not shown sufficient shrillness, energy, or alarm over the Trump attack on democracy. In Hickenlooper, always a personally popular figure and incumbent, always sort of a steady, benign Mr. Smith-goes-to-DC incumbent Senator, handily won his primary of the vote against a more leftist opponent. That deviates from a "street fighter" pattern.

Democratic Socialist Melat Kiros, who ousted Diana DeGette, a liberal multi-term incumbent, surged at the last moment as she threaded the anti-semitic issue by professing strong support and protection of her "Jewish brothers and sisters, while also condemning the Israeli government regarding Gaza and future funding. Her religious affiliation is unknown, likely with Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity like others with Ethiopian roots. Kiros immigrated as a child and grew up in Denver.

The large Denver demographics of young voters, not at all bothered by the term "socialism", hurt by high housing costs and student loans, and disgusted with incumbents who don't care about their pain enough, were a major factor in Kiros' win. I will be following her closely through the general election. She is an extremely talented political presence. Like many cities, Denver is its own unique self, not necessarily like the rest of the state. https://coloradonewsline.com/2026/07/02/how-melat-kiros-stunned-colorado-politics/

The endorsement of Kiros by Bernie Sanders (a Democratic socialist) was a major factor in her win in Denver. Sanders carries much weight in the city and nearby area. While not a candidate in 2024, endorsing Biden instead, he and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez held an enormous "Fighting Oligarchy" rally at Civic Center Park in March 2025, drawing an estimated 30,000 to 34,000 attendees