———————————————————
Spencer Pratt declares war on election fraud; Platner’s teary selfie exit and Maine’s voter-free “convention”; Trump dumps Spain mid-summit; and America starts sawing down its surveillance cameras.
JUL 9READ IN APP
Good morning, C&C, it’s Thursday! Your roundup includes: reality star Spencer Pratt declares war on election fraud in a nine-minute selfie that makes every paid consultant in the country look like an intern; Graham Platner tearfully selfie-quits the Maine Senate race, and Democrats reveal their bold plan to replace him with a “nominating convention” featuring one small tweak — the voters don’t get a vote; President Trump, seated cheerfully beside NATO’s Mark Rutte, orders all trade with Spain cut off, “including visits”; and a growing band of Americans armed with angle grinders begins quietly liberating their towns from AI surveillance cameras, forcing this publication to issue an urgent public-safety advisory we’d very much like you to ignore.
🌍🇺🇸 ESSENTIAL NEWS AND COMMENTARY 🇺🇸🌍
🗳️🗳️🗳️
Former LA Mayoral candidate and reality TV star Spencer Pratt has been called a political marketing genius. Nobody even comes close to his video production values. Spencer is single-handedly making all the political marketing consultants in the country look like amateurs. Yesterday, he released his latest clip. It was another doozie. He announced his new campaign: election integrity.
CLIP: Spencer Pratt on his new election integrity campaign (9:42).
Spencer was already mad about the DEI-infused Palisades fire catastrophe. They may have temporarily defeated him —after the election— but that has only made him madder. Spencer began his clip by making a point we’ve long discussed here at C&C: media always ignores the fundamental problem.
The fundamental problem isn’t the cheating— the cheating is what’s causing the problem. The problem is that large numbers of citizens in a democratic republic are losing faith in their election systems.
As Spencer correctly noted, the civilization-destroying problems start well beforeanything illegal happens. Even the appearance of impropriety can poison a republic. In a letter explaining why he dismissed a scandal-plagued cabinet officer, President John Adams quoted Julius Caesar: “Caesar’s wife must be above suspicion.” (Caesar divorced his wife, Pompeia, after a little misunderstanding called the Bona Dea scandal.)
In 1954, in Offutt v. United States, 348 U.S. 11 (1954), the Supreme Court established a lasting principle relying on the same quote John Adams used. In Judge Frankfurter’s words:
“Judges also are human, and may, in a human way, quite unwittingly identify offense to self with obstruction of law. Therefore, justice must satisfy the appearance of justice.”
Similarly, secure elections must satisfy the appearance of secure elections.
More recently, in 2020, Chief Judge Stuckey of the US Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces directly invoked Caesar’s divorced spouse:
“Judges, like Caesar’s wife, should always be above suspicion. An impartial and disinterested trial judge is the foundation on which the military justice system rests, and avoiding the appearance of impropriety is as important as avoiding impropriety itself.”
Logically, avoiding the appearance of impropriety in elections is as important as avoiding impropriety in elections itself.
The concept is universal. India’s Supreme Court recently echoed the same timeless quote in a case about a judge accused of misconduct in Muzaffar Hussain v. State of Uttar Pradesh (2022).:
“It is often said that the public servants are like fish in the water, none can say when and how a fish drank the water. As often quoted, a judge, like Caesar’s wife, must be above suspicion.”
Spencer explained how elections, just like poor Pompeia, must be above suspicion, too:
In judicial ethics, the mere appearance of potential fraud is disqualifying. Same goes here. Whether or not there is widespread fraud occurring, there certainly could be, and it doesn’t matter how many times you scream, “There’s no widespread fraud”— a lot of people still believe there is, and there’s no way to actually validate it.
This isn’t just about whether or not fraud is swinging the election. The appearance of fraud already is swinging the election. People rightly have zero faith in this janky, inefficient system. They feel like their vote isn’t being counted. They feel like illegal ballots are being cast, and they’re not wrong to worry about it.
There’s literally no safeguards in place to prevent that from happening, and way too many openings for it to occur on a massive scale.
It is inarguable that democracy —government by the people, for the people, and of the people— cannot long survive when substantial numbers of people distrust voting results. If corporate media and Democrats (but I repeat myself) were reallyinterested in “saving democracy,” they would prioritize proving that elections are reliable, not ordering citizens to trust them while relaxing and opposing the laws and rules that ensure accuracy.
Allowing obvious exploits to exist —whether or not anyone actually takes advantage of them (but why wouldn’t they?)— is the best way to destroy the country. People would rather have a dictator of their own choosing than a black box of an unaccountable ballot system that keeps producing magical unicorn results like those in Spencer Pratt’s mayoral contest.
In other words, by resisting commonsense reform efforts like USPS ballot tracking and the SAVE America Act by insisting there is no problem, Democrats keep doing the exact opposite of what a group allegedly concerned with preserving democratic norms would do.
Spencer Pratt knows his history. He is a pretty smart cookie. And he just declared war, in his high-impact, entertaining political video. Enjoy the whole thing.
🔥🔥🔥
Platner took the goodies. Yesterday afternoon, the New York Times reported, “Platner Suspends Senate Bid in Maine After Rape Accusation.” Oddly, Platner’s self-indulgent selfie dropout video clip was about the same length as Spencer Pratt’s declaration of war.
CLIP: Disability farmer Graham Platner tearfully pulls the plug (11:15).
It’s done. Whatever torrid, three-way backroom swaps between establishment Democrats, the DSA, and Graham Platner resolved yesterday, and the Nazi-affiliated disability farmer posted a tearful but defiant farewell. (It reminds me of Biden’s weekend letter when he ‘announced’ his withdrawal.)
Turns out that once they cracked his shell open, Democrats found Platner to be a bad oyster. Probably infected with something. Definitely no pearls.
Graham Platner should now sink back into his tumultuous private life like a crusty lobster trap sinking into the bay. He can now return to his welfare farm and once again plague the single women in his local community rather than screwing the whole country. Thanks to his newfound notoriety, one suspects Graham’s future romantic adventures may be curtailed. But with Democrats, who knows. Platner might be even more popular with the blue ladies. Eric Swalwell can be his wingman.
Now he’s officially out, I wonder whether Graham will have his Totenkopf tattoo restored?
Moving on.
Maine’s Democrats announced their way forward: a warp-speed “nominating convention.” They have 18 days to select a new candidate. The current plan calls for an elite “convention” of 500 carefully selected county delegates plus 100 state committee members. Experts. The party will also write the rules governing how the cherry-picked delegates vote. Maine’s voters, who got to vote for Platner, will have no vote this time.
Yesterday, Bangor Daily News:
One political scientist in Maine described it as giving the party “complete control over how they go about selecting that replacement.”
What can we tell you? Democracy is very diverse.
Once again, we see the, um, flexibility in Democrats’ understanding of the word “democracy.” You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
Think of it like this. Imagine telling five-year-old Tommy that he can have whatever flavor of gelato he wants. He excitedly blurts out, “triple chocolate!” But you say, hang on, not so fast, let’s let your representatives choose it for you. Aha! His parents picked zero-sugar oyster-flavored! A great choice! One of our best-sellers! It’s good for you, sonny.
That’s what Maine’s Democrats just told their base. Let us pick. We know what’s best. Maybe they’ll find a socialist lobsterfarmer this time. Isn’t it wild how a sleepy Maine Senate race became a national spectacle? You really can’t buy this kind of entertainment.
🔥🔥🔥
Yesterday, Reuters reported what I first thought must be an exaggeration or typical corporate media hysteria. The headline read, “Trump orders halt to US trade with Spain over NATO spending, Iran.” But when I watched the clip, I saw it was completely accurate. And pretty wild.
When you mess with the bull, you get the horns.
“Spain is a wasted cause,” President Trump said at NATO’s annual meetup in Ankara, sitting right next to NATO’s Secretary General Mark Rutte. “We don’t want to do any trade business with Spain anymore, by the way. I’d like to cut it off. Spain is a terrible partner in NATO. Cut off all trade with Spain, please. Including visits. We don’t want anything to do with them. They’re hopeless. Bad people.”
“Watch them come running back, please, please sir,” the President added, waving the red cape and practically daring the Spaniards to charge.
Trump’s complaints about Spain cluster around three themes: their obstinate denial of 5% NATO defense spending, their lack of support for the Iran war, and Spain’s refusal to grant U.S. operational use of its bases and airspace even though we’ve been protecting them since World War II. “It’s a wasted cause,” Trump coolly observed.
It’s battered, but Trump still has the tariff dashboard. I would hate to handicap Spain’s chances of getting out of the ring without getting gored.
🔥🔥🔥
It has come to my attention that a small number of misguided citizen vigilantes in Houston, Texas; Rutherfordton, North Carolina; and New Bern, North Carolina have been cutting down and damaging Flock Safety license-plate-reading, AI-powered cameras recently installed on public streets throughout their communities without notice. Yesterday, ABC-13 Houston reported, “More Flock cameras cut down in Houston amid some privacy concerns.”
CLIP: New Bern seeks snitches to arrest Flock camera saboteurs (0:19).
I want to be very clear: this is illegal, dangerous, and wrong. These cameras are vital public safety infrastructure. They cost approximately $3,500 each. They are not watching you. Please. They are merely photographing your vehicle, capturing your license plate, recording the time and location of your travel, storing that information in a database accessible to law enforcement and who knows who else, and retaining it for up to 30 days, at which point it is automatically deleted, unless it isn’t.
But I can understand how there may be some confusion about what these cameras actually do. Captain Ryan Bailey of the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office reassured everyone that “the camera itself is only capturing the vehicle traveling down the road.” That’s it. Just the vehicle. And the plate. And the time. And the location. And the direction of travel. And the make, model, and color. But definitely not the driver. Unless the driver is visible through the windshield, in which case, also the driver. But that’s it. Probably.
There are also safeguards. Deputies must enter a case number before searching the database. This means the government cannot look up where your car has been without first typing a number into a box, which, as anyone who has ever typed a number into a box knows, is an absolutely impenetrable barrier to abuse.
Folks, I am deeply troubled by this lawless wave of vigilante camera-toppling now spreading across the South like kudzu with a battery-operated hacksaw. In Houston alone, four cameras were cut down in recent days— two near Washington Avenue and Westcott, and two more near Memorial Park. The Houston Police Department has opened an investigation. The perpetrators remain at large, presumably driving vehicles that are no longer being tracked and videotaped.
In Rutherfordton, North Carolina, a vandalized Flock camera generated more than 20,000 comments on social media after police posted a photo of the damage. Some commenters called the vandals criminals. Others called them heroes.
Honestly, people. The comment “Not all heroes wear capes” received a frankly embarrassing number of likes, which tells you everything you need to know about the state of civic discourse in this country.
But the most alarming incident occurred in New Bern, North Carolina, where police are asking the general public to help identify two men who cut down a brand-new Flock camera that had just been installed. The public has responded with tremendous civic enthusiasm, submitting hundreds of tips identifying the suspects as “Batman and Robin” and “the Lone Ranger and Tonto.”
I do not find this funny. I find this very, very serious. Therefore, in the interest of public safety, I am issuing the following advisory:
OFFICIAL PUBLIC SAFETY ADVISORY
Issued by: Concerned Parties Who Definitely Are Not Watching You
DO NOT approach a Flock camera with any cutting implement, power tool, or vehicle of sufficient mass with a bumper guard. For example, do not purchase a Milwaukee M18 FUEL Cordless Angle Grinder, or a DeWalt Brushless Angle Grinder Tool, which cut through metal poles with alarming speed and run on batteries, so there is no cord to trace. We are not saying this because it would be effective. We are saying it because it would be illegal, of course.
DO NOT purchase a cordless reciprocating saw, which is a tool designed for cutting through wood, metal, and other materials quickly and quietly, which fits easily in a backpack, and is available for overnight delivery. This is not a recommendation. This is a warning.
DO NOT acquire a heavy-duty bolt cutter, which is capable of severing the mounting hardware on a Flock camera pole in a single motion and is available for under $30 with free Prime shipping. We mention the price only to illustrate how accessible this type of tool is, not because we think you should buy one. Unless you need it for your personal purposes.
DO NOT consider a telescoping pole saw, which can reach elevated mounting brackets from a safe distance without requiring a ladder. Lightweight, portable ladders, we should note, are also available on Amazon, but we are choosing not to link to those.
DO NOT imagine that, because these cameras are installed on public property, paid for with public funds, and pointed at the public, the public has any say in them whatsoever. That is not how public property works. Public property belongs to the government, which graciously allows you to use it, and in return the government gets to photograph you using it. This is called a social contract.
DO NOT consult the crowdsourced map at DeFlock.org, which shows the locations of thousands of Flock cameras across the country, because that information could theoretically be misused by someone who wanted to know exactly where to start cutting. We are not linking to it. We are simply mentioning that it exists and that it is very detailed and easy to navigate.
DO NOT operate at night, when camera visibility may be reduced and witnesses are fewer.
DO NOT submit false tips to law enforcement identifying suspects as fictional masked vigilantes, such as “Zorro,” “Captain Liberty,” or “Your Mama,” as this wastes valuable police resources and is also, frankly, hilarious. Which just makes it worse.
DO NOT discuss any of this on social media, where posts about damaged Flock cameras apparently go viral and generate 2.6 million views and 59,000 likes, because that kind of attention only encourages people.
DO remember that damaging these cameras is a crime, and that the costs of repair or replacement are covered by the department’s budget, which is to say, by you, the taxpayer, who is also being surreptitiously photographed without your permission by the camera you just paid for.
Flock Safety, in a statement to ABC13, officiously said, sorry, I mean officially said: “Damaging public safety equipment is illegal and puts the community at risk, which is why we strongly condemn this type of miscreant behavior.”
Flock Corporation ironically noted that, despite their national surveillance network, they are unable to see “very few reports of vandalism,” which, given that four cameras were cut down in Houston in a single week and the New Bern incident got 2.6 million views, suggests that Flock Safety may be defining “very few” in an interesting and flexible way, sort of like how Democrats define “democracy.”
Maybe they are using the same math as the people who told us the cameras only store data for “around 30 days.”
Texas Southern University Professor Howard Henderson, founding director of the Center for Justice Research, offered a more measured assessment. “The community is just simply saying, since you won’t listen to me, since you have given me no way to voice my concern, we’ll just take it down and tear it up.”
Important note: Professor Henderson did not say this sympathetically. He said it analytically, as a credentialed expert. There is a difference. I want to be very clear about that. You are not an expert. But you canmaster a DeWalt Cordless, Brushless Angle Grinder with Kickback Brake after about ten minutes of practice in your garage. I mention this only to highlight the contrast in status.
In conclusion, please do not cut down Flock cameras. They are watching over you. For your safety. All of them. Everywhere. On a map where you can very easily find them online. If you must, please use manufacturer-approved safety eyewear.
That is all.
This advisory has been brought to you by Concerned Parties Who Are Definitely Not Watching You. We know where your car was on Tuesday. Have a terrific Thursday.
Have a terrific Thursday! Don’t spend too much time shopping on Amazon, and then get back here tomorrow morning, for more essential news and caffeinated commentary.
———————————————————
Rose Rambles... 