Presumptuous Politics

Monday, August 17, 2020

Pelosi calls members back to Capitol Hill to consider USPS legislation, calls post office 'Election Central' amid coronavirus

Idiot Democrat
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested members could be brought back from August recess to address issues regarding the U.S. Postal Service, while urging Democrats to appear at their local post offices amid the battle for mail-in ballots for the 2020 presidential election.
Pelosi, D-Calif., on Sunday said the post office has become “Election Central” thanks to the coronavirus pandemic even as President Trump and Republicans have warned for months that universal mail-in ballots would cause widespread voter fraud in the election.
“Alarmingly, across the nation, we see the devastating effects of the President’s campaign to sabotage the election by manipulating the Postal Service to disenfranchise voters,” Pelosi said.
Pelosi went on to slam Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, calling him a “top Trump mega-donor” who has “proven a complicit crony as he continues to push forward sweeping new operational changes that degrade postal service, delay the mail, and – according to the Postal Service itself – threaten to deny the ability of eligible Americans to cast their votes through the mail in the upcoming elections in a timely fashion.”
“These delays also threaten the health and economic security of the American people by delaying delivery of life-saving medicines and payments,” Pelosi said. “Lives, livelihoods and the life of our American Democracy are under threat from the President.”
She added: “That is why I am calling upon the House to return to session later this week to vote on Oversight and Reform Committee Chairwoman Maloney’s ‘Delivering for America Act,’ which prohibits the Postal Service from implementing any changes to operations or level of service it had in place on January 1, 2020.”
Pelosi also said in an effort “to save the Postal Service,” that members should “participate in a Day of Action on Tuesday by appearing at a Post Office in their districts for a press event.”
“In a time of a pandemic, the Postal Service is Election Central,” Pelosi said. “Americans should not have to choose between their health and their vote.”
A senior Democratic aide told Fox News that Pelosi could have members return to Capitol Hill from August recess on Friday, and to be ready for deliberations on legislation for the USPS on Saturday—the weekend in between the Democratic National Convention and the Republican National Convention.
Pelosi’s comments come after she, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., House Oversight Committee Chair Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., and the top Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security Committee Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., demanded the postmaster general and chairman of the U.S. Postal Service testify before Congress on Aug. 24. The Democrats said the testimony would be about the recent “sweeping and dangerous operational changes” at the agency that they claimed are “slowing” the mail and “jeopardizing the integrity” of the 2020 election.
Trump and the Republican Party have been warning for months about possible fraud connected to mail-in voting. The RNC and the Trump campaign have filed lawsuits to hit back against efforts by Democrats to overhaul voting laws in response to the pandemic; this, while Democrats say that cases of actual voter fraud are limited and claim that Republicans are trying to suppress voter turnout to improve their chances of winning elections.
Earlier this week, the USPS warned 46 states and the District of Columbia that it cannot guarantee all ballots cast by mail will arrive in time to be counted in the November election.
Democrats have asked for $25 billion, including $3.5 billion in election resources, to fortify the Postal Service in time for the election to be included in the fourth coronavirus stimulus package. Trump has said the Postal Service money won’t be coming through unless Democrats come to the negotiating table on coronavirus relief and give concessions to Republicans.
“Sure, if they give us what we want,” the president said of the post office money during a press conference Friday. “And it's not what I want, it's what the American people want.”
Trump on Thursday said mail-in voting would not be possible without the funding.
"It's their fault," Trump told FOX Business’ “Mornings with Maria.” "They want $3.5 billion for something that's fraudulent ... for the mail-in votes, universal mail-in ballots. They want $25 billion for the post office. They need that money so it can work and they can take these millions and millions of ballots.”
The president said vote-by-mail is contingent on the funding.
"But if they don't get those two items, then they can't have mail-in ballots," he said.
The president went on to slam the voting by mail. He said ballots have been “sent to dogs” and "dead people," citing states like Virginia, where he said more than “500,000 phony ballot applications were sent to voters,” and in New York, where mail-in voting caused a weeks-long delay in announcing results for some races in the state's primary.
Meanwhile, former Vice President Joe Biden's campaign said casting ballots by mail is the “most secure form of voting" amid the novel coronavirus.
But earlier this week, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci said there is “no reason” Americans can’t vote in person for the 2020 presidential election, so long as voters follow proper social distancing guidelines amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“I think if carefully done, according to the guidelines, there’s no reason that I can see why that cannot be the case,” Fauci told ABC News this week. “If you go and wear a mask, if you observe the physical distancing, and don’t have a crowded situation, there’s no reason why [people] shouldn’t be able to do that.”
Fauci added that individuals who are “compromised physically or otherwise” and who are not interested in physically going to the polls on Election Day, can use mail-in voting.
But Fauci doubled-down, saying “there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to vote in person or otherwise.”
Fox News' Chad Pergram contributed to this report. 

Sunday, August 16, 2020

Old Slow Joe Cartoons








Lara Trump on Kamala Harris pick: It's still 'old slow Joe at the top of that ticket'


President Trump's campaign adviser Lara Trump says the Trump campaign isn't concerned with presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden picking Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., as they are focused on reminding the American public what Trump has accomplished during his first term
Despite the attention Kamala Harris is receiving as his recently picked running mate, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden still tops his party's ticket, Trump 2020 Campaign senior adviser Lara Trump noted Saturday.
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"I would remind everybody that it is still Joe Biden's, old slow Joe at the top of that ticket, Jeanine, and that is what ultimately matters," Trump said during an appearance on Fox News' "Justice with Judge Jeanine."
"That is the person I'll remind the mainstream media -- who went into overdrive with a love fest of sorts for Kamala Harris, whenever it was announced that she was the vice presidential running mate of Joe Biden," Trump said. "It's still, Joe, at the top of the ticket. So our strategy has always been to remind people about the incredible job that this president did with his first three-and-a-half years in office."
The president's daughter-in-law, who is married to Eric Trump, took issue with what she called Biden's "pandering" with his selection of a woman as his running mate, slamming him and saying she was insulted.
"And I have found it very interesting that the mainstream media and the people on the left think that the women in this country, Judge Jeanine, are stupid," Trump said. "Apparently, they forgot that the identity politics, they tried to play in 2016 when they suggested that women should vote for someone named Hillary Clinton because she was a woman, didn't work then, it's not going to work."
"I for one, was insulted when months ago Joe Biden came out and he said, guess what? It's going to be a woman who is my running mate. Let's not worry about qualifications. Let's not worry about what they bring to the table," Trump continued. "If these people want to stand up for equality, people in this country will never be fully equal in their eyes until they stop pandering for votes and playing identity politics."
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Trump said she was looking forward to the presidential debates, hoping the first debate would be moved up, saying the president would expose Biden.
"People are going to fully see that this man does not have all his faculties about him," Trump said about Biden. "They are going to fully see that the radicalization of Joe Biden and the Democrat Party is complete, that he is a full-blown socialist."

AOC is speechless on Seattle protesters


Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Saturday refused to condemn Black Lives Matter protesters who demanded white folks “give up their homes,” instead saying there is a need to “establish just policies and address the core issues of brutality in order for us to come together.”
The Democratic socialist made her remarks Saturday during a stop at the Woodside Houses, a NYCHA housing complex in Queens, where she greeted residents and spoke to locals and reporters.
“Since this is happening in Seattle, I don’t have as close of a view on what’s happening. Of course I represent New York’s 14th Congressional District, so I don’t know the details of the protests that are going on, but I think what’s really important is that we make sure people are safe and it’s important for us to enact legislation and policy that actually addresses the core reasons behind why all of this kind of disruption is happening,” AOC said, adding, “until we do that, this is going to keep occurring, whether we want it to or not.”
She said her message is that it’s “extremely important that we establish just policies and address the core issues of brutality in order for us to come together.”
AOC said she “needed to have more context” regarding the issue of Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan being recalled in order to comment.
The firebrand progressive also fought off talk of a potential run for president.
“Everyone leave me alone,” AOC scolded. “I am focused on making sure that we preserve our democracy so that we can make sure there is a fair and just 2024 election at all, so I never want to hear anything about an election after November right now.”

Trump campaign plans huge digital ad buy ahead of DNC, as Biden airs first ad with Harris


The Trump campaign will launch a four-day advertising blitz across some of the nation's most visited digital platforms during the Democratic National Convention next week.
The DNC, which kicks off Monday, will be a four-day event with dozens of top Democrats giving speeches and voicing their support for the Democratic presidential candidate, Joe Biden.
But as some of the most influential party leaders address the nation, Trump will be aggressively inundating digital platforms with front-page takeovers and banner ads, targeting more than just political programs.
According to a report by The New York Times on Saturday, The Trump campaign will be taking over the YouTube main page banner for a whopping 96 hours. The campaign has also reportedly bought up premium ad space on Hulu -- meaning viewers cannot skip the Trump ads before watching their desired content.
“Unheard of scale & saturation,” Tim Murtaugh, the Trump campaign’s communications director tweeted Saturday.  “Never before seen, political or corporate. Millions more will watch TRUMP content than will watch the DNC.”
Other digital platforms such as the Washington Post, Fox News and the Wall Street Journal will all have ad space reserved on their homepages, purchased by the Trump campaign for a reported seven-figure amount, which could even surpass $10 million, depending on ad engagement.
“It’s great that Team Biden let the Trump campaign grab up the best premium real estate on the Internet during Joe’s big week,” Murtaugh told The New York Times. “We’ll show millions of Americans exactly how the radical, leftist takeover of Joe Biden is now complete.”
But a spokesperson for the Biden campaign called the aggressive advertising strategy a “stunt” and a waste of money.
“No smoke and mirrors charade can conceal that Donald Trump’s failed leadership has cost over 167,000 Americans their lives and driven the strong economy he inherited from the Obama-Biden Administration into one of the deepest recessions in our history,” Andrew Bates, director of Rapid Response for Biden’s campaign, told the publication Saturday.
The Biden campaign, which has purchased digital ad space on YouTube during the Republican National Convention alongside the Trump campaign, claims to have spent its advertising funds in a more strategic way.
Digital platforms like Hulu are being utilized to target audiences in specific states by Biden’s campaign, rather than homepage takeovers or banner ads seen nationwide.
But the ad wars are just getting started, and Americans can expect to see greater amounts of ad space consumed by politics as the Nov. 3 election date nears.
The Biden campaign raised $48 million in the 48 hours following Biden’s announcement for his vice presidential pick, Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., a figure that was first reported by Reuters and confirmed with the campaign by Fox News this week.
The Biden-Harris ticket also launched its first advertisement highlighting Harris’ commitment to public service. The 30-second clip was also the Biden campaign’s first bilingual ad, which will be running on YouTube and targeting Latino voters in Arizona and Florida, according to a report by ABC News Saturday.
The Trump campaign had been ahead in funds raised monthly until July, and it is too soon to tell who will come out on top in August – though the selection of Harris seems to have energized Democratic donors.
Biden announced that 150,000 first-time donors contributed within 48 hours of the VP announcement.
"It's really palpable, the excitement," Biden said.
Trump’s campaign, along with the RNC and joint fundraising committees, has raised $165 million so far just during the month of August, and closed July with $300 million on hand.
Biden’s campaign has not announced what it has raised so far in August, but finished July with $294 million in cash – just $6 million shy of the reported Trump campaign contributions.
Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

Robert Trump, brother of President Trump, dead at 71


Robert Trump, younger brother of President Trump, died Saturday night, the White House confirmed in a statement from the president. He was 71.
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"It is with heavy heart I share that my wonderful brother, Robert, peacefully passed away tonight," the president wrote. "He was not just my brother, he was my best friend. He will be greatly missed, but we will meet again. His memory will live on in my heart forever. Robert, I love you. Rest in peace."
The president had traveled to New York on Friday to visit his ailing brother. A senior administration official had said the president “has a very good relationship with his brother and his brother is very special to him.”
Robert, who died just 11 days before what would have been his 72nd birthday, had reportedly spent more than a week in the intensive care unit at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City earlier this summer.

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ - APRIL 1990: Donald Trump with sister Maryanne Trump Barry and brother Robert Trump attend the Trump Taj Mahal opening April 1990 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. (Getty Images)

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ - APRIL 1990: Donald Trump with sister Maryanne Trump Barry and brother Robert Trump attend the Trump Taj Mahal opening April 1990 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. (Getty Images)

Robert Trump is the president’s youngest brother and the youngest of the five Trump siblings: Maryanne Trump Barry, 83, a retired federal judge; Fred Trump Jr., who died in 1981 at the age of 43; Donald, 74, who is in the middle; Elizabeth Trump Grau, 78, a retired bank executive, and then Robert.
Like his president brother, Robert Trump joined the family business and was a top executive at the Trump Organization.

Atlantic City, N.J.: Robert Trump, brother of developer Donald Trump, attends a topping-off ceremony for the new transportation facility at the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City on March 19, 1987. (Photo by John Paraskevas/Newsday RM via Getty Images)

Atlantic City, N.J.: Robert Trump, brother of developer Donald Trump, attends a topping-off ceremony for the new transportation facility at the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City on March 19, 1987. (Photo by John Paraskevas/Newsday RM via Getty Images)

Robert Trump had pulled back from the public view in recent years and described himself as “gainfully retired” living in Millbrook, N.Y. But Robert had come back into the spotlight recently, as he repeatedly tried to block publication of his niece Mary Trump’s new book, “Too Much and Never Enough.”
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He requested a restraining order to stop the book from being published, saying its publication would be a violation of the will she signed of the family patriarch Fred Trump Sr.
“Her attempt to sensationalize and mischaracterize our family relationship after all of these years for her own financial gain is both a travesty and injustice to the memory of my late brother, Fred, and our beloved parents,” he said. “I and the rest of my entire family are so proud of my wonderful brother, the president, and feel that Mary’s actions are truly a disgrace,” Robert Trump told the New York Times in a statement.
Robert Trump didn’t court the limelight the way his brother did, but his high-profile divorce in 2008 from his wife of 25 years, socialite Blaine Trump, broke headlines. Robert Trump was said to be having an affair with his secretary, with whom he later lived, Ann Marie Pallan. Robert and Blaine remained on good terms, with Blaine even attending President Trump’s inauguration in 2017.
The youngest Trump sibling used his fortune to patronize a number of local causes and small businesses, local residents told Town and Country Magazine. He was a trustee of Angels of Light, a holiday giving nonprofit, and had donated a significant amount to a horse rescue operation in the area, among other causes.

Saturday, August 15, 2020

Voter Fraud Cartoons










Post Office warns states across US about mail voting


WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Postal Service is warning states coast to coast that it cannot guarantee all ballots cast by mail for the November election will arrive in time to be counted, even if mailed by state deadlines, raising the possibility that millions of voters could be disenfranchised.
Voters and lawmakers in several states are also complaining that some curbside mail collection boxes are being removed.
Even as President Donald Trump rails against widescale voting by mail, the post office is bracing for an unprecedented number of mail-in ballots as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
The warning letters sent to states raise the possibility that many Americans eligible for mail-in ballots this fall will not have them counted. But that is not the intent, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said in his own letter to Democratic congressional leaders.
The post office is merely “asking elected officials and voters to realistically consider how the mail works, and be mindful of our delivery standards, in order to provide voters ample time to cast ballots through the mail,” wrote DeJoy, a prominent Trump political donor who was recently appointed.
The back-and-forth comes amid a vigorous campaign by Trump to sow doubts about mail-in voting as he faces a difficult fight for reelection against Democrat Joe Biden.

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Meanwhile, members of Congress from both parties have voiced concerns that curbside mail boxes, which is how many will cast their ballots, have abruptly been removed in some states.
At the same time that the need for timely delivery of the mail is peaking, service has been curtailed amid cost-cutting and efficiency measures ordered by the DeJoy, the new postmaster general, who is a former supply-chain CEO . He has implemented measures to eliminate overtime pay and hold mail over if distribution centers are running late.
The Post Office released letters it sent to all 50 states and the District Columbia on its website. While some states with permissive vote-by- mail laws were given a less stringent warning, the majority with more restrictive requirements that limit when a ballot must be cast were given a more dire warning.
The laws, the letter said, create a “risk that ballots requested near the deadline under state law will not be returned by mail in time to be counted.”
Many state officials criticized the move.
“This is a deeply troubling development in what is becoming a clear pattern of attempted voter suppression by the Trump administration,” Democratic Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said in a statement. “I am committed to making sure all Virginians have access to the ballot box, and will continue to work with state and federal lawmakers to ensure safe, secure and accessible elections this fall.”
Kim Wyman, the Republican secretary of state in Washington state, where all voting is by mail, said sending fall ballot material to millions of voters there is a “routine operation of the U.S. Postal Service.”
“Politicizing these administrative processes is dangerous and undermines public confidence in our elections,” she said in a statement. “This volume of work is by no means unusual, and is an operation I am confident the U.S. Postal Service is sufficiently prepared to fulfill.”
Meanwhile, the removal of Postal Service collection mail boxes triggered concerns and anger in Oregon and Montana. Boxes were also removed in Indiana.
In Montana, postal officials said the removals were part of a program to eliminate underused drop boxes. But after the outcry, which included upset members of Congress, the officials said they were suspending the program in Montana. It was unclear if the program was also suspended in other states.
At least 25 mail boxes were removed in mid-July in Montana with another 30 scheduled to be taken away soon, said Julie Quilliam, president of the Montana Letter Carriers Association. She rejected the claim that the boxes were removed because of low usage.
“Some of the boxes scheduled to be removed from downtown Billings are nearly overflowing daily,” Quilliam wrote in a Facebook message.
All three members of Montana’s congressional delegation — two of whom are Republican — raised concerns about the removal of mail boxes in letters sent to Postmaster DeJoy.
“These actions set my hair on fire and they have real life implications for folks in rural America and their ability to access critical postal services like paying their bills and voting in upcoming elections,” said Sen. Jon Tester, a Democrat.
Republican Sen. Steve Daines and Rep. Greg Gianforte, also a Republican, raised similar concerns in letters to DeJoy about the effect the removal of the mail boxes might have on delivery times. All three asked for information on how the agency decided which boxes to remove and whether any more removals were planned.
“During the current public health crisis it is more important than ever the USPS continue to provide prompt, dependable delivery service,” said Gianforte.
Postal Service spokesperson Ernie Swanson said the Oregon removals were due to declining mail volume and that duplicate mail boxes were taken from places that had more than one. The Postal Service said four mail boxes were removed in Portland this week.
“First-class mail volume has declined significantly in the U.S., especially since the pandemic,” Swanson said. “That translates to less mail in collection boxes.”
Separately, the National Association of Letter Carriers, which represents 300,000 current and retired workers, endorsed Biden.
The union said Trump has been hostile to the post office and has undermined it and its workers while Biden “is – was – and will continue to be – a fierce ally and defender of the United States Postal Service,” said union president Fredric Rolando.
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Hanson reported from Helena, Montana. Associated Press writers across the U.S. contributed to this report.

Sarah Palin: Media double standard for Kamala Harris proves 'if you're conservative, you'll get beat up'


The mainstream media's favorable coverage of presumptive Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris is further proof that "if you’re conservative, you’re going to get beat up," former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin told Fox News "Watters' World" in an exclusive interview airing Saturday at 8 p.m. ET.
"I don't know if it's so much a gender thing ..." Palin, the 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate, told host Jesse Watters. "It’s like what Trump faces all the time. It’s three against one: you have the Democrat Party, you have the media and you have the RINOs in your own party that are always, always trying to clobber you."
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden announced the choice of Harris to be his running mate Tuesday. Much of the ensuing media coverage has highlighted the trailblazing nature of Biden's selection.
Harris is the first Black woman to appear on a major party ticket and only the third woman --after Palin in 2008 and Democrat Geraldine Ferraro in 1984 -- to run for vice president. Some critics have pointed out major differences in the media's treatment of Harris and Palin.
"When Palin ran, [liberal talk show host] Ed Schultz talked about a 'bimbo alert,' Harry Reid's [press secretary] called her 'shrill,' Donny Deutsch on CNBC talked about her 'sex appeal' and Joe Biden called her 'good-looking,'" Fox News contributor and former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer recalled on "The Daily Briefing" Thursday.
"I'm no different than any other conservative, I think, in offering myself up to serve the people," Palin told Watters. "We expect it. I expect it. And you just deal with it and it makes you work harder."
Palin also noted the irony of Biden choosing Harris to be his running mate after, in Palin's words, Harris "kicked the crud out of Joe Biden in the primaries. And then ... then they hook up as buddies.
"That always just kind of cracks me up," she added. "It’s like the illustration of politics that [makes] people, you know, just shake their heads, roll their eyes and say, 'God, come on, you guys. Where’s the sincerity?'"
Elsewhere in the interview, Palin advised Trump's reelection campaign not to dive into "personal, petty stuff" and instead focus on going after Biden and Harris on the issues.
"They are so extremely liberal. I can’t stress that enough," she said. "People just need to do their own homework and find out what their record is and what their view of the future is under a pretty much, I guess you could say, the socialist-Marxist view that they desire. Let their record speak for itself."

Trump says NYC was 'so good' before he left, not so much anymore


Start spreading the news: They're leaving "in droves."
New York City was in far better shape when he was campaigning for the White House in 2016 than it is today, President Trump lamented in a Twitter message Friday.
The president's tweet came amid media reports that residents have been fleeing the Big Apple.
“It was showing signs of future problems, but was so good when I left 4 years ago!” the president wrote.
Wealthy New Yorkers began leaving for their second homes in the suburbs and rural areas as the coronavirus overwhelmed the city in early spring -- but now many have started moving away for good, the New York Post reported this week.
Moon Salahie, owner of Elite Moving & Storing in New York City, told the Post that 90% of his clients are moving to the suburbs.
“People are fleeing the city in droves,” he said. Many of his clients are families with young children concerned about the coronavirus possibly spreading in schools when classes resume.
Oz Moving told Fox Business it has seen a “drastic” increase in quote requests, around 30% year over year.
Ross Sapir, president of Roadway Moving, said for the last three months his company "couldn’t keep up with the demand.”
Many New Yorkers are moving to Florida, California, Texas and North Carolina, Fox Business reported.
A New York Post editorial that Trump retweeted in his post called the virus the “last straw" for those leaving.
"New Yorkers are fed up with the shootings and lootings, homelessness on the streets, sub-par online schools, sky-high taxes and the sheer obliviousness of pols like Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo," the editorial said.

New York City's Democratic mayor, Bill de Blasio, left, was a target of a blistering editorial about the Big Apple that President Trump retweeted Friday.

New York City's Democratic mayor, Bill de Blasio, left, was a target of a blistering editorial about the Big Apple that President Trump retweeted Friday.
Cuomo, a Democrat, acknowledged the problem during a news conference earlier this month.
“We’re trying to get people to come back. They’re not coming back right now,” he said.
Trump told the Post this week that his campaign team believes they can win New York, a normally deep-blue state.
“Over the last six months what’s happened is insane,” the president told the Post. “So we’re going to try very hard to win New York and that will be the first time — is that since Ronald Reagan, I guess?”
“I will bring down taxes and I’ll make sure that New York City is a safe place,” he added. “I mean, this is one of our cherished — this is a cherished diamond of this country. And we can’t let this happen to New York.”

CartoonDems