“Then you look at China on the march,” Fox News host and Certified Blockhead™ Sean Hannity tells someone not important enough for me to spend time to make up a nickname Donald Trump, Jr. “North Korea on the march.  The mullahs in Iran emboldened.  Soviet Union now is gonna…. we’re making Russia and Putin rich again…”

And remember, folks: Hannity used to boast that he would call Trump regularly and advise him on foreign policy.

Mike Lindell talks a lot of shit. He talks a lot of shit about the 2020 election being hacked by China or Iran or whoever. In the course of this crusade Lindell has casually thrown around some pretty advanced technical terms related to “packets” of internet traffic that require quite a bit of computer science knowledge to fully comprehend, knowledge well beyond what the average American – let alone scores of extremely smart and talented above average individuals working in other fields – understands about how electronic communication works, to say nothing of a successful carnival barker of a bedding pitchman who actually doesn’t know anything.

And yet he persists. Without getting into the weeds with every time he’s been wrong and been made to look like a complete asshole, mainly because there are too many to count, this correction by the Republican Idaho Secretary of State, Lawerence Denney, may be the most salient, as this time Lindell can’t hide behind technical jargon and a Deus ex machina explanation for this gaping plot hole in a recent rant about the state’s election (which, by the way is a deep Red State which Trump won by over 30% in 2020). The paraphrased TLDR is “You claimed all 44 counties in our state were remotely ‘hacked’ in the 2020 election, but how the fuck is that possible if 7 of those counties use zero electronic equipment whatsoever for ballot tabulation? Explain that, genius”:

“[Corey] Lewandowski out, per Trump spokesman: ‘Pam Bondi… has our complete faith and confidence in taking over MAGA Action. Corey Lewandowski will be going on to other endeavors and we very much want to thank him for his service. He will no longer be associated with Trump World.’ Trump fired Lewandowski in June 2016. Then he called him from the GOP convention a month later” reports NYT’s Maggie Haberman on the fallout over the longtime Trump minion’s alleged sexual harassment of a woman named Trashelle and affair with SD Gov. Kristi Noem.

Also note how a Trump spokesman uses the somewhat stupid mainsteam media metonym “Trump World” to refer to themselves. We here in National Zero World find that especially funny.

The bipartisan House select committee investigating the January 6th domestic terrorist attack on the Capitol issued its second round of subpoenas to eleven organizers and funders of the official rallies that preceded the attack, Politico reports.

The subpoenas target the “Stop the Steal” event at which Donald Trump spoke on the Ellipse on the morning of January 6th.  Many members of the crowd at that rally marched to the Capitol to participate in the attack.  Trump and others, including Congressman Mo Brooks, urged the crowd to take action to stop the Congressional certification of the Electoral College results that named Joe Biden the 46th President.

Katrina Pierson, Amy Kremer and Caroline Wren were involved with the group Women for America First, who took out rally permits for January 6th.  Pierson was a 2016 Trump campaign spokesperson, and she was a liaison between various groups and the Trump camp in 2020 as a senior advisor to the campaign. 

“In briefs filed Wednesday in the Justice Department’s challenge to Texas’ abortion ban, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton touted the trips Texas women are making out of state to obtain abortions as a point in his favor in defending the law. Paxton was addressing an argument that the Biden administration had made for why it should be allowed to challenge the six-week abortion ban in federal court. The Justice Department said that the way the ban affects interstate commerce gives the United States the authority to bring a lawsuit challenging it. Paxton shot back on Wednesday in his brief by arguing that the Justice Department did not cite any ‘actual evidence that the Texas Heartbeat Act burdens interstate commerce.'”

“‘What evidence that does exist in the record suggests that, if anything, the Act is stimulating rather than obstructing interstate travel,’ Paxton said, pointing to an increase in Texas women seeking to travel to Kansas and Oklahoma to obtain the procedure. In an earlier court filing, the leader of the clinic organization Trust Women told a court that call volume for appointments at its clinics in Kansas and Oklahoma had doubled, and a significant portion of those patients were from Texas. ‘About two-thirds of our [Oklahoma City clinic] patient appointment calls now come from Texas patients seeking abortions that are unavailable throughout their home state,’ the provider said, noting that typically only a quarter of the clinic’s patients are from Texas. In Kansas, where in 2019 only 25 abortion patients were from Texas, approximately half of the calls to its Wichita clinic are now coming from Texas patients, according to the filing” – CNN.

“Fat Bear Week is from September 29th to October 5th, your vote decides who is the fattest of the fat. Matchups will be open for voting between 12 – 9 p.m. Eastern (9 a.m. – 6 p.m. Pacific). Click the bear you would like to vote for. That bear will then be outlined in blue. Then enter your email in the space and hit enter. You know that you have successfully voted if you see the total votes for each bear” reports Explore.org on the bracket based fat bear tournament organized by the site in collaboration with Katmai National Park and the Nature Conservancy.

Which Alaskan bear do you think consumed the most salmon and fattened up the most during 2021? Democracy is on the line, so get out there and make your vote count America!

Huffington Post: “When Donald Trump set about attacking Georgia governor and fellow Republican Brian Kemp this weekend for failing to fraudulently overturn Democrat Joe Biden’s victory there, he may have inadvertently revealed more details of a scheme that could land him in prison. That the former president tried to coerce Kemp into calling a special legislative session to give Trump the state’s electoral votes rather than to now-President Biden has been known publicly since shortly after their Dec. 5 phone call. But Trump during his rally in Perry, Georgia, on Saturday twice stated that he had asked Kemp to call a ‘special election’ – a request that would mesh with some of his advisers’ recommendations to him to declare martial law in a handful of states he narrowly lost and to force them to hold new elections.”

“Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has been investigating Trump’s actions since days after that Jan. 2 call. Spokesman Jeff DeSantis said Wednesday he could not comment specifically on Trump’s statements, but that ‘all acts that were potentially illegal attempts to influence the administration of the election are subject to that probe.’ Trump spokeswoman Liz Harrington said Trump meant to say ‘special session,’ not ‘special election.’ ‘He was talking about the need for a special legislative session, which had to be called by the governor,’ she said. ‘He clearly meant special session.’ Trump’s exact words, though, were ‘special election’ as he described the Dec. 5 call with Kemp. ‘Remember we wanted to call a special election,’ Trump said, and less than a minute later: ‘Brian, listen. You have a big election integrity problem in Georgia. I hope you can help us out and call a special election and let’s get to the bottom of it for the good of the country.’ “

These rumors are total garbage and a disgusting lie. These old, tired attacks on conservative women are based on a falsehood that we can't achieve anything without a man's help.

I love Bryon. I'm proud of the God-fearing family we've raised together. Now I'm getting back to work

— Governor Kristi Noem (@GovKristiNoem) September 29, 2021

“Former US Olympic swimmer Klete Keller has just pleaded guilty to one felony count of ‘Obstructing an official proceeding’ Sentencing guidelines range: 21-27 months. Prior defendant to take this plea got 8 months prison time. In return, US Justice Dept dropped remaining criminal counts against Keller Quick appearance in court. When this case reaches sentencing hearing, at later date, we’d expect to hear from Keller” reports NBC Washington’s Scott McFarlane.

“A faint but discernible note of alarm has been slipping into Democrats’ chatter about the 2022 and 2024 elections. President Joe Biden’s approval ratings have slumped to their lowest levels since his inauguration. His governing coalition is splintering over the Haitian migrant crisis. Many Democrats view the legislation moving through Congress this week as a defining test of whether they can marshal their congressional majority and pass something that most Americans want. ‘You’ve got an imperative here that requires the Democrats to deliver. Their survival depends on it,’ Tom Daschle, the former Democratic Senate leader from South Dakota, told me.”

“Biden seems to be playing a longer game. He’s working to pass the infrastructure plan, but the White House considers subduing the pandemic its overriding mission. He hopes to forge a sunnier future from this past summer’s wreckage of soaring case rates, hospitalizations, and deaths. The pandemic news is bleak. But the administration’s recent actions could nevertheless seed a turnaround. Offices that went dark as COVID-19 swept the country could again fill with employees who have gotten vaccines either on their own or because Biden’s mandates gave them little choice. Young children will soon be eligible for shots that will protect them inside the classroom and out. Starved for new hosts, the Delta variant will eventually recede. Biden is prepared to be patient; the trouble is, many in his party are not” – The Atlantic.

Jim, this app only allows 280 characters for a response. Can’t even begin to answer!

— Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) September 29, 2021

The Intercept: “This August, Israeli consular officials in the southeast U.S. arranged meetings with a dean at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to discuss a graduate student teaching a course on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. According to two UNC professors with knowledge of the meetings, who asked for anonymity for fear of retribution, the Israeli official accused the Ph.D. student of antisemitism and said she was unfit to teach the course. The intervention by an Israeli government official, Consul General to the Southeastern United States Anat Sultan-Dadon, followed a pressure campaign by right-wing pro-Israel websites and an advocacy group to remove the graduate student, Kylie Broderick, from teaching the history department course called ‘The Conflict over Israel/Palestine.’ The websites and pro-Israel advocacy group pointed to postings Broderick had made on Twitter that criticized Israel and Zionism and, without evidence, cited the postings as evidence of antisemitism.”

“In addition to the intervention by the Israeli government, the school faced pressure from a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, the two UNC professors told The Intercept. The professors said Rep. Kathy Manning, D-N.C., also met with the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences to exert pressure over Broderick’s course. ‘It is not a new phenomenon where outside parties have tried to stifle academic freedom on this subject,’ Broderick said. ‘But these people have never seen me teach, never seen my past evaluations which have said that I treat students fairly, and thus have no right to dictate what I say inside the classroom.'”

I stand with Kyrie Irving.

I stand with Andrew Wiggins.

I stand with Bradley Beal.

I stand with Jonathan Isaac.#NBA#YourBodyYourChoice https://t.co/kn74nwjVRV

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) September 29, 2021

“The buck has stopped at Dollar Tree Inc. The retailer, which sells nearly everything for a dollar in its namesake chain, plans to add more products at slightly higher prices, highlighting the pressure on companies to offset cost increases for a range of goods. Dollar Tree said it would start selling products at $1.25 and $1.50 or other prices slightly above $1 in some of its stores, expanding current tests selling items at higher price points as supply-chain snarls, a tight labor market and inflation push costs higher” reports the Wall Street Journal, wasting space on these explanations when the real reason is “Fuck you bodega owners who fill up shopping carts with our cheap garbage and then put a $2 price tag on the items at your store in the hood, the gravy train’s over.”

Some sort of Night of the Long Knives-like shitshow seems to be happening behind the scenes of the MAGA Reich-in-exile as now Trashelle Odom (yeah her name is really Trashelle), wife of Trump donor, John Odom, tells Politico that Lewandowski “repeatedly touched her, including on her leg and buttocks, and spoke to her repeatedly touched her, including on her leg and buttocks, and spoke to her in sexually graphic terms” at an event in Las Vegas last weekend.

Coming right off the heels of an explosive report on an affair between Lewandowski and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem – and on top of Noem’s fresh new abuse of power scandal involving her daughter and the state’s home appraisal authority – the timing can’t be a coincidence. There’s some sort of power struggle going on here, but who’s behind it is anyone’s guess. It’s also anyone’s guess why two parents would name their daughter Trashelle. What the fuck were they thinking?

Roanoke College Polls: “Former Democrat Governor Terry McAuliffe maintains a 7-percentage point lead over Republican Glenn Youngkin (48%-41%) with 9% undecided in the race for Virginia governor, according to The Roanoke College Poll… Republicans hold an advantage in being extremely enthusiastic about voting (43% to 35% for Democrats), while about 9 in 10 partisans say they are almost certain to vote (91% of Republicans vs. 88% of Democrats). Likely voters see the economy (21%) and COVID (19%) as the most important issues in the election ahead of race relations (6%), and health care (6%). McAuliffe’s favorable rating is 50% while his unfavorable is 37% with 13% unsure or not knowing enough to have an opinion. Youngkin is at 40%/41% favorable/unfavorable (both numbers up significantly in a month).”

After conservative website AmGreatness reported “multiple sources” confirmed an ongoing extramarital affair between Republican South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem and former Donald Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, Twitter has been trending with one overwhelming sentiment:  “Ewww.”

A rumored candidate for a 2024 White House run or a potential partner in a 2024 ticket with Trump at the top, Noem has promoted her “christian values” as a selling point for a campaign.  She’s been under fire lately for alleged abuse of office after pushing state officials to grant her daughter a real estate appraisal license and using state resources to attend political events.  She is a married mother of three.

Lewandowski was nominally Trump’s campaign manager in the 2016 reelection campaign, siphoning $20,000 per month as salary though he never managed a winning campaign on any level.  He’s been romantically linked to Trump aide, pants steamer Hope Hicks.  Lewandowski was videotaped assaulting a female Breitbart reporter during the 2016 campaign, pushing him out of the campaign in April 2016, and he’s been accused of abuse by a former romantic partner.

Texas will release 250 undocumented migrants who were detained and held in state custody as part of Republican Governor Greg Abbott’s reactionary response to border security because the state had no authority to detain them, the Texas Tribune reports.

A state court ordered the release of the migrants, all men, saying the Abbott policy violated state law and constitutional rights to due process.  The migrants have been held for more than a month without any charges being filed, and Texas state law requires defendants in trespassing cases be released without bail after 15 or 30 days, depending on the level of charge sought.

District Judge Roland Andrade, a Republican, complimented county prosecutors and legal aid organizations for cooperating on a plan to get the men released. “I’m glad you all worked out most of these, and hopefully everything will be streamlined a little bit more,” Andrade said. “It’s a learning experience for everybody, even the court here.”

J. Thomas Manger, the new chief of the Capitol Police, said the force is facing unprecedented threats to the Capitol and members of Congress, with more than 9,000 credible threats made against representatives since the start of 2021, the Associated Press reports in an exclusive interview.

“We have never had the level of threats against members of Congress that we’re seeing today,” Manger said. “Clearly, we’ve got a bigger job in terms of the protection aspect of our responsibilities, we’ve got a bigger job than we used to.”

Nearly nine months after the Capitol was attacked by a group of domestic terrorists hell bent on overturning the Constitution, Manger says the agency, which has 2,300 officers and non-uniformed employees, has adapted to close some of the security gaps uncovered by the insurrection.  The first test was the September 18th rally for jailed January 6th insurrectionists, for which the department ramped up protection.