A frustrated Arizona Democrat Secretary of State, Adrian Fontes, announced he does not have legal authority to block President Trump from the ballot.

Mr. Fontes says he would do it if he could and calls the laws governing his inability “stupid.”   SoS Fontes is big mad.

(Via The Hill) – Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes (D) said he does not have the ability to bar former President Donald Trump from running for president in his state Wednesday.

There have been calls to bar the former president from being able to run in 2024 related to language in the 14th amendment where it states those who “have engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against the government cannot hold office. Fontes said despite those claims, he cannot do so by way of a previous Arizona Supreme Court case.

“Now, the Arizona Supreme Court said that because there’s no statutory process in federal law to enforce Section 3 of the 14th amendment, you can’t enforce it,” Fontes said on “The Gaggle” podcast by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com.

“That’s what the Arizona Supreme Court said, so that’s the state of the law in Arizona. Now, do I agree with that? No, that’s stupid,” Fontes continued.

Fontes said despite his dislike of what the Arizona Supreme Court has decided, he will still follow it because it is Arizona law.

“What I’m saying is I’m going to follow the law,” Fontes said. “And the law in Arizona is what the law in Arizona is. Whether I like it or not, is irrelevant.” (link)

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A very bad, terrible, no good news day for Ron DeSantis today.

A $50 million Super PAC scheduled to launch in support of his campaign was forced to abandon all hope after the donors backed out, essentially saying it’s futile.   Then, moments later, the Never Back Down super PAC announced they were backing down from Super Tuesday states and halting all door knocking activity in Nevada, California, North Carolina and Texas.   The burn rate on cash was too much and no resupply.

I said last year, when few would accept my predication of a DeSantis effort, to settle into an unemotional spectator position, watch DeSantis launch and implode, then watch what happens to the financed influencer campaign as the cash runs out.

All of these interests will radically shift once the cash dries up.  That’s exactly what is going on right now.   Two stories:

(Daily Mail) – A super PAC set up to back Ron DeSantis with $50 million is closing as donors backed out – while its founder said the Florida governor’s campaign was guilty of ‘rookie s**t’ mistakes and he will now back Donald Trump.

John Thomas, a Republican strategist known as the ‘Billy the Kid of Political Battles’ set up ‘Ron to the Rescue’ in November and had secured financial commitments from mega-wealthy donors.

But he said the donors began having second thoughts after the botched DeSantis campaign launch on Twitter Spaces in May. (more)

Meanwhile, the formerly $200 million funded Never Back Down Super PAC, the group that was left carrying the brunt of the DeSantis campaign costs after relaunch, has pulled all major door knocking operations from states.   This announcement was more predictable, because we could see the burn rate on NBD being ruinously high.

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Well, I certainly hope this doesn’t come as a surprise to CTH readers. {Go Deep on GA GOPe) In fact, on August 15th, I specifically wrote how Georgia Governor Brian Kemp was supporting Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis {Go Deep}.

When you know you are essentially watching a performance of paid political actors, and if you are familiar with the Sea Island – Big Club screenplay, then the only thing remaining is to watch the show and see which sequence they assign to each act.   In today’s performance, Brian Kemp, holds a public press conference to proclaim his faith and trust in corrupt Fulton County DA Fani Willis.  WATCH:

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The reality of the situation is very obvious.  Kemp is leading a stop Trump effort on behalf of the multinational benefactors behind him.  This is why Kemp recently met privately with Ron DeSantis to promote the reboot 4.0 effort.  The Sea Island group has organized Georgia as an important part of their effort.  Kemp has a role to play, and the support of Fani Willis is as simple as fulfilling that role and responsibility.

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Smart move by President Trump not to appear in court today thereby starving the media of oxygen to push the anti-Trump narrative. ‘I do hereby freely and voluntarily waive my right to be present at my arraignment on the Indictment and my right to have it read to me in open court,’ he said in a filing submitted by his local attorney.

Strategically, it was also a brilliant counter-Lawfare move as it removes the power of corrupt DA Fani Willis to grandstand from the courtroom holding the appearance of Trump in Atlanta, GA, as a trophy for her tribe.  Remember, Lawfare is a construct for media consumption intended to manipulate public opinion.

The more you starve the Lawfare operatives of the oxygen they need, the stronger your offense against their schemes.

(Via Politico) – Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty to charges that he conspired to subvert the 2020 election in Georgia, formally signaling his intent to fight the charges in the sprawling racketeering case brought by Fulton County prosecutors.

Trump entered his plea Thursday in a two-page court filing meant to waive his appearance at an arraignment scheduled for Sept. 6, when he was slated to have the charges read to him in court. Several of the 18 defendants charged alongside him have also waived their appearances at the scheduled arraignment. (read more)

We are living in an era that requires strategic thinking, not emotion.

Alinsky methods, like Lawfare, are designed to target your emotional and psychological response system.  If you struggle with the emotions of anger and frustration, take a walk, get your emotional self under control, then you can return with a cold, deliberate and calculated response.  This is not easy; it takes mental discipline.

Make the enemy eat up their mental and emotional space with thoughts and “what if’s” about you.  Meanwhile, you stay frosty and clear-headed.

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The Gateway Pundit has been doing yeoman’s work covering the story of discovered voter fraud in Michigan and the state/fed level coverup that has followed. [SEE HERE]

The short version is that election fraud, discovered and put on blast by a clerk from Muskegon, Michigan, was happening under the same process throughout the state. The group “GBI Strategies”, that was at the center of the Muskegon fraud, was operating a fraudulent voter registration submission process throughout Michigan.

The thousands of fraudulent registrations (Muskegon example) were part of a process to generate hundreds of thousands of fraudulent ballots (statewide).  Those fraudulent ballots were created and mailed out, then presumably returned and counted.  The “voters” never existed.

I don’t want to speak authoritatively about a situation I do not have strong research in.  However, go to GWP [First HERE] and the update [SEE HERE] to get a bigger understanding about how the GBI Strategies process worked.

I find the coverup operation interesting.   The locals called the state and ATF.  State AG Nessel called in state police.  State police contacted FBI. Four coverup silos were then created to eliminate the problem of the originating investigation, while AG Nessel ignores and pretends there is no fraud….  plausible deniability = ongoing investigation, sound familiar?

In essence, this is a Matryoshka doll. The local investigation covered up by state, covered by FBI, and the pesky detail of the ATF covered by same. The core of “voter fraud” buried under the layers of pretending.

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In an effort to keep the Daily Open Thread a little more open topic we are going to start a new daily thread for “Presidential Politics”. Please use this thread to post anything relating to the JoeBama Administration and Presidency.

“This is no small thing, to restore a republic after it has fallen into corruption. I have studied history for years and I cannot recall it ever happening. It may be that our task is impossible. Yet, if we do not try then how will we know it can’t be done? And if we do not try, it most certainly won’t be done. The Founders’ Republic, and the larger war for western civilization, will be lost.”

“But I tell you this: We will not go gently into that bloody collectivist good night. Indeed, we will make with our defiance such a sound as ALL history from that day forward will be forced to note, even if they despise us in the writing of it.”

~ Mike Vanderboegh

This thread will refresh daily and appear above the Open Discussion Thread.

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Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. THY WILL BE DONE, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but DELIVER US FROM EVIL.

For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen †

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This one is worse, significantly worse.  Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell freezes again while taking questions from reporters on Wednesday at an event in Kentucky.  This very disturbing cognitive disconnect is raising additional concerns about the 81-year-old’s health.

The episode happens after a reporter asked him about running for re-election in 2026.   WATCH:

WASHINGTON – […] Senators quickly sought more information about McConnell’s health after the incident, according to one person familiar with the dynamics. Shortly after the Wednesday incident, McConnell held calls with his closest allies including Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.), Conference Chair John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), according to people familiar with the calls. All of them are potential successors to McConnell.

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In 1946, a small town of Athens, Tennessee, became a true battleground, as a siege was laid on the town jail by crowd mostly consisted of WWII veterans who decided to take justice into their own hands, as the local politics were plagued by corruption, police brutality and electoral fraud.

The political turmoil was present prior to the Second World War, when an influential political figure in from Memphis, Edward Hull “Boss” Crump, appointed Paul Cantrell as the candidate for Sheriff in 1936. Cantrell won the election in what became known as the “vote grab of 1936”.

Around that time a system of fees was introduced in the Sheriff’s office, which meant that a fee would be paid per arrest. The system proved to be very dysfunctional ― shady arrests were made, often without substantial evidence, which also included numerous fines for “drunkenness” and “fee grabbing” from tourists and travelers on a similar pretext. In a period between 1936 and 1946, it is estimated that more than 300,000 dollars amounted to these fees.

In the meantime, Cantrell ran for State Senate, leaving his trusty deputy, Pat Mansfield, in charge. The racquet worsened, and the local population was greatly displeased. After several investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice failed to make a dent in this lucrative violation of authority, the situation reached its boiling point.

During wartime, thousands of men from the McMinn County, which includes Athens, joined the fight against fascism overseas. The shortage of able men led to low criteria in employing law-enforcement officers, which often included ex-convicts with violent criminal records.

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Consider this question carefully: “What possible stakes could be so high the DC UniParty would be willing to prove, beyond any doubt, that the ability of Americans to vote their way out of any problem no longer exists?”

This is the question which should underpin the stories you are hearing and reading about various secretaries of state beginning to structure election rules to disqualify President Trump from ballot access.

Why are state governments willing to prove to Americans that voting will not be the method to retain a constitutional republic?

My elevator encapsulated short answer…. This is the fundamental change, Barack Obama promised to deliver.

(Via NBC) – Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes said Tuesday that his office is figuring out how to handle potential complaints over whether former President Donald Trump should be disqualified from appearing on the 2024 ballot.

The issue centers on the 14th Amendment, which prohibits people who have “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” from holding public office. Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson raised the theory at last week’s GOP presidential debate that Trump’s conduct on Jan. 6, 2021, might disqualify him on those grounds — a theory that has gained traction among some legal scholars, though others discount the possibility.

Now, the people running state elections are trying to figure out what to do if people bring legal challenges against Trump.

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