Open Thread…
Today’s Key Primaries- Wisconsin: A major stress test for the Democratic establishment, fueled by the rise of democratic socialist Francesca Hong in the gubernatorial primary.
- South Carolina: A high-stakes Republican special primary to replace the late Lindsey Graham, where his sister, Senator Darline Graham, is running with the full endorsement of Donald Trump.
- Minnesota: A significant reshuffling to replace departing incumbents, highlighted by a fierce Democratic Senate primary and a crowded Republican gubernatorial race featuring Mike Lindell.
- Connecticut: A classic establishment-versus-insurgent battleground, featuring a liberal primary challenge to sitting Governor Ned Lamont.
- Alabama: A redistricting shakeup featuring special primaries across four newly redrawn congressional maps.
- Vermont: State primaries continuing the broader national tug-of-war between establishment Democrats and progressive challengers.
The Stakes
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce34dkpnyg7o
Ousted Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad sentenced to death in absentia
A Syrian court has sentenced ousted dictator Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia, after convicting him of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity during the country’s civil war.
It is the first conviction against Assad, who fled from Damascus to the Russian capital, Moscow, with his family after his regime was overthrown in December 2024, ending his family’s five-decade grip on power.
Assad’s cousin and the former head of political security in southern Syria’s Deraa province, Atef Najib, was also sentenced to death. He appeared wearing a striped prison uniform inside a cage in the courtroom as the judge read out his sentence.
Russia and Syria agree to transform military bases after Assad’s fall
The historical agreement will transform the existing military installations into joint training centers while returning civilian facilities to local authorities.
Kornacki is counting up South Carolina now..
Lindsey’s sister has to top 50% to avoid Aug. 25 runoff.
Just ordered my Dr. Annie tee for the SC general.
Sturperseone:
BiD posted this yesterday, the speech you wanted:
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Sad to see Mark Sanford humiliating himself again. Good guy, even losing his home county.
Looks like a battle for second place against Graham for the runoff in two weeks. Norman brings a formidable, ready-made statewide campaign infrastructure left over from his recent gubernatorial run. Meanwhile, Fry relies on deep regional loyalty and strong MAGA credentials, but he struggles with statewide name recognition.
Kornacki (NBC) just called Graham makes the runoff, so now it’s a question whether she gets a strong enough opponent to beat her in 2 weeks
Closing times:
VT: 7:00 PM ET
SC: 7:00 PM ET
AL: 8:00 PM ET
CT: 8:00 PM ET
MN: 9:00 PM ET
WI: 9:00 PM ET
as we wait for Wisconsin polls to close in 20 minutes here’s the last round of polling for comparison to the actual results tonight
Kornacki is teeing up Wisconsin now, polls are now closing…
Rep. Ralhy Norman makes thecSC GOP runoff. His greatest asset is the highly mobilized, turnkey statewide campaign infrastructure he retained from his recent gubernatorial run. As a wealthy real estate developer and prominent Freedom Caucus member, Norman brings formidable fundraising capabilities, high statewide name recognition, and key conservative backing, including endorsements from state law enforcement and colleagues like Rep. Nancy Mace. His demonstrated polling strength among voters under 60 provides a solid base to build upon, but he will need to leverage every ounce of this logistical and financial muscle to overcome Graham’s massive structural advantages—namely, her family’s legacy name recognition, the inherent power of her incumbent appointment, and the President’s endorsement.
Early Hong numbers not great for her. Establishment fave David Crowley “is putting up early numbers that could keep him in the game”, says Kornacki
Kornacki: “Crowley is making this a game tonight”.
Hong underperforming in college precincts so far, needs a big boost ahead…
It looks like Crowley is taking the over 60 and black votes sectors. Hong younger voters and college educated. It could stay neck and neck with all the minor votes bleeding Hong more than Crowley.
Yeah, I have a feeling the Thanksgiving kerfuffle hurt Hong since those big poll leads. A lot of her voters say they feared she couldn’t win general.
Here’s the AI Gemini take on the Republican they’re up against:
The political class views U.S. Representative Tom Tiffany as a formidable conservative juggernaut armed with a $15 million war chest and the President’s endorsement. While his hard-right credentials and locked-in MAGA base give him a massive advantage against a progressive, handicappers warn this deeply partisan profile faces a critical test winning over moderate, college-educated voters in the crucial “WOW” suburbs.
Half the vote is in.
Katie’s fave Peggy ahead, right out of the box…
Milwaukee numbers coming in for Hong, statewide margin tightening.
Wisconsin tightened again. Crowley leads by just 2,224 votes out of 400K cast with 66% counted.
More more more
https://www.ladbible.com/news/us-news/donald-trump-zapper-asleep-oval-office-zap-franklin-025367-20260811
Wild theory about ‘Zapper woman’ goes viral after she’s spotted making hand gesture behind Donald Trump
Former Trump administration staffer, she is the CEO of conservative media and lifestyle brand The Conservateur. But viral theories reckon she’s taken on a new role in supposedly ‘zapping’ the president awake.
Yep, the US president appeared to become ‘sleepy’ as the talks took place on a live stream – opening up to a whole load of mockery.
But it’s also opened the gates to the conspiracy theory of a ‘Zapper woman’ in the White House as she appeared to make a hand gesture behind Trump.
Jayme Leagh Franklin was stood behind the president, along with Robert F. Kennedy Jr, as he signed the executive order for changes to the recommendations for childhood vaccines.
Clips are circulating on social media that show Franklin seeming to occasionally pat an area of her stomach concealed by a red scarf.
And it’s claimed that whenever she would ‘press’ this part of her torso, Trump would suddenly ‘wake up’ from his nodding off. So, she would supposedly, somehow, ‘zap’ the president back to consciousness for the press appearance.
“Claims she has a button fitted on her belly, and when she gets the nod that he’s asleep she moves her hand and presses a button that wakes him,” one viral post on X explains.
“They’re calling her The Zapper. No idea if it’s true but it *appears* to line up.”
Hong on the move with college precincts finally kicking in for her. Crowley ahead just 605 votes with 68% counted.
I guess Darlene (back to her maiden name) Graham is filling the incumbent seat of her warmongering brother, but it looks weird for “incumbent” to be by her name since she inherited the seat, and recently.
Kornacki says Hong can move ahead statewide if the Madison area returns continue coming in for her, as they have in the past half hour.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/former-air-force-secretary-says-013523816.html
Former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall on Monday said he’ll sue to force the Trump administration to restore his security clearance, which it revoked Friday after claiming he had disclosed sensitive information about the Qatari-gifted jet now serving as Air Force One.
Kendall, a West Point graduate who served as President Joe Biden’s head of the Air Force, said on CNN Monday that he’ll sue the administration, noting it has a history of retaliating against critics by stripping their clearances. “As my mother taught me years ago, you stand up to bullies,” said Kendall, who has denied disclosing classified information.
Mark Zaid, a prominent national security attorney who sued the administration after his own clearance was revoked by the Trump administration, confirmed in a post on X that Kendall had hired him. “More to come,”” Zaid wrote.
Jack – Are you about done with that kitchen floor?
You have to love Kornacki. He does love the numbers.
Me too, I love election night number crunching in primaries. Teaches us a lot about how to win generals.
https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/2026/08/11/what-time-is-6-planet-alignment-tonight-planetary-parade-aug-12-six-planets-visible-where-to-look-up/91255061007/
What time is the 6-planet alignment? How to see tonight’s planet parade
There is no single moment when all six planets suddenly appear.
Instead, skywatchers should look outside roughly 30 to 60 minutes before local sunrise on Wednesday, Aug. 12, between 5 and 5:30 a.m. ET in New Jersey. During that period, the sky remains dark enough to spot the brighter planets while Mercury and Jupiter are still above the horizon.
Look toward the eastern horizon before sunrise.
The planets will appear stretched across the sky along the ecliptic, the same path followed by the sun, moon and planets. They won’t form a perfectly straight line, but they will appear arranged across the morning sky from Earth’s perspective.
The six planets in the alignment are:
Mercury
Jupiter
Mars
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Mars and Saturn are expected to be the easiest to spot with the naked eye. Mercury may also be visible under favorable conditions, while Jupiter sits very low on the horizon. Uranus generally requires binoculars and Neptune requires a telescope.
Mars and Saturn should be visible without equipment. Mercury and Jupiter may be visible with the naked eye if viewing conditions are favorable. Uranus typically requires binoculars, while Neptune generally requires a telescope.
https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/greenland
Greenland gets a total eclipse tomorrow.
The US got one in 2024.
The whole tRUMP thing is probably Josh a coincidence.
I stopped for ice cream after tennis tonight. Outside, at the ice cream place was a group of people all with “Abdul for Senate” signs. It looks like there is a grass roots movement going on here in Holland.
I’ve ordered my tee, Corey, will go for ice cream when i get it
I see CT Gov. Ned Lamont beat back his progressive primary challenger. They need a Hong win to avoid a bad night.
Craig – How many campaign tees do you have?
I think I have about a dozen.
Countless tees, BlueD. Although many so tattered they became rags
78% of the vote in, and Hong has not led once all night. But it’s damn close.
time to get out the recount rules:
Wisconsin does not have automatic recounts; candidates must formally petition for one. To be eligible, a candidate must trail by 1% or less. The state funds the recount only if the margin is under 0.25%. Otherwise, the candidate pays upfront but is refunded if the result changes. Petitions are generally due within three business days.
Oh that wzs funny. Just cause he needed a bathroom
I know this sounds Nutz, but who would have guessed 6 months ago that the two folks within an eyelash of each other would be a black guy and Asian woman for the WI Dem Governor nomination? It’s the fucking cheesehead state.
Hong just moved ahead by 295 votes.
Check out PersiaBoi’s “Cater Force One”
Ha!
Peggy and Amy won!
OK that’s it for me tonight…
Ill hold down the fort from the west coast.
Something went wrong with the absentee and they have to do a reload and then report. May be at least another hour or two. Kornacki may wrap up for the night.
I woke up to find CNN had declared Crowley the winner, but I’m not sure when that happened since the numbers they show are the same as when I went to bed and it hadn’t been called.
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