Here’s another episode of Glenn Kirschner’s informative vlog on the state of our justice system. While I’m not quite as sanguine about how the system is holding up against the assault of Trump and his Zombpublicans, it is heartening to look at how thoroughly the Trump/Giuliani efforts to overturn the election in the courts have been rebuffed.
The concurring opinion Glenn reads and discusses in this episode is, as he points out, especially powerful because the Judge who wrote it was President of his law school’s Federalist Society chapter and comes from a tradition of conservatism. After reading a little about him, and based on the quality of argument in his dissent Glenn discusses here, I’m of the opinion he is more closely allied with the never-Trump wing of conservatism.
In case you’re interested in the actual opinion, I have embedded the official .pdf file issued by the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which contains Justice Hagedorn’s consenting opinion. I think it’s worth noting this was a 4-3 decision. I find it a bit frightening there were three justices that though this case had merit. We’re nowhere near out of the woods. Then again, in most respects most of us have never actually been out of the woods given the true nature of our nation’s government and history.
So . . . we’re less than two months away from election day, November 3, 2020, and Donald Trump is clearly intent on either stealing the election or causing so much chaos and doubt about our system of voting that he can delay the inevitable.
Given the importance of this particular election, I thought I would spend the remainder of time between now and 11/3 sharing some of the videos and podcasts that are being produced to educate and influence voters; at least the ones I think will contribute to Donald John Trump’s defeat and removal from office. If I have something specific to say, I’ll do that as well, but I’m going to depend on the work of others a bit more than usual.
They won’t necessarily be in any particular order, though I will try and make them timely. Exceptions may be particularly effective ads that are not strictly contemporaneous with the events/remarks that precipitated them.
This is one Glenn put up yesterday. I’m inserting the FBI’s PSA he refers to as well, just in case you want to read it for yourself. Glenn distills the PSA down to five (5) words . . .
“Do. Not. Trust. Donald. Trump.”
Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) | Foreign Actors and Cybercriminals Likely to Spread Disinformation Regarding 2020 Election Results /js/init.js/js/federated-analytics.js
September 22, 2020
Alert Number
I-092220-PSA
Questions regarding this PSA should be directed to your local FBI Field Office.
Foreign Actors and Cybercriminals Likely to Spread Disinformation Regarding 2020 Election Results
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) are issuing this announcement to raise awareness of the potential threat posed by attempts to spread disinformation regarding the results of the 2020 elections. Foreign actors and cybercriminals could create new websites, change existing websites, and create or share corresponding social media content to spread false information in an attempt to discredit the electoral process and undermine confidence in U.S. democratic institutions.
State and local officials typically require several days to weeks to certify elections’ final results in order to ensure every legally cast vote is accurately counted. The increased use of mail-in ballots due to COVID-19 protocols could leave officials with incomplete results on election night. Foreign actors and cybercriminals could exploit the time required to certify and announce elections’ results by disseminating disinformation that includes reports of voter suppression, cyberattacks targeting election infrastructure, voter or ballot fraud, and other problems intended to convince the public of the elections’ illegitimacy.
The FBI and CISA urge the American public to critically evaluate the sources of the information they consume and to seek out reliable and verified information from trusted sources, such as state and local election officials. The public should also be aware that if foreign actors or cyber criminals were able to successfully change an election-related website, the underlying data and internal systems would remain uncompromised.
Recommendations
Seek out information from trustworthy sources, such as state and local election officials; verify who produced the content; and consider their intent.
Verify through multiple reliable sources any reports about problems in voting or election results, and consider searching for other reliable sources before sharing such information via social media or other avenues.
For information about final election results, rely on state and local government election officials.
Report potential election crimes—such as disinformation about the manner, time, or place of voting—to the FBI.
If appropriate, make use of in-platform tools offered by social media companies for reporting suspicious posts that appear to be spreading false or inconsistent information about election-related problems or results.
The FBI is responsible for investigating malign foreign influence operations and malicious cyber activity targeting election infrastructure and other U.S. democratic institutions. CISA is responsible for protecting the nation’s critical infrastructure from physical and cyber threats. The FBI and CISA provide services and information to uphold the security, integrity, and resiliency of the U.S. electoral processes.
Victim Reporting and Additional Information
The FBI encourages victims to report information concerning suspicious or criminal activity to their local field office (www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices).
For additional assistance and best practices, and common terms, please visit the following websites:
Systems Savvy 