George Raveling celebrated his 87th birthday yesterday. It would be a nice gesture if Eric Musselman invited him to a game this season. No one else at USC has in years!
- Sean Allen has been hired as USC’s new pitching coach. Allen spent the past two seasons at Ohio State and in 2021 was named assistant coach of the year while he was at Texas. It’s a solid hire and Allen will have some pressure on him after replacing Seth Etherton.
Did they tell Allen he will be practicing at El Camino College next season?
- USC guard Boogie Ellis has signed a free-agent contract with the Sacramento Kings.
- And now for some history:
- Song girl Charity Hill cheers on USC during the 1995 football season.
- USC players Don Jones (11), Kenny Moore and Kevin Williams (8) celebrate a victory during the 1980 season.
- Here’s another example where this column educates me about USC’s past.
Nancy Chaffee enrolled as a freshman at USC in 1947 and then won the U.S. Nationals 18-and-under championship in women’s tennis. She went on to win 14 U.S. and women’s tennis championships. For three straight years, she won the U.S. Indoor National Championships (1950-52), the first woman to accomplish that feat.
She defeated the legendary Althea Gibson in the 1950 U.S. Indoor national title match. Chaffee was ranked the No. 4 player in the world in 1951.
Chaffee married baseball star Ralph Kiner in 1951 and the same year played at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. She won her first two matches at Wimbledon in 1951 and lost to the No. 3 seed in the third round. Kiner had hit 54 home runs with 127 RBI for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1949. He had 369 career homers. More on him below.
They must have been a rare couple in those days, two elite athletes from Southern California.
Chaffee’s marriage to Kiner ended in 1968. In 1991, she married CBS sportscaster Jack Whitaker. Chaffee also did sports commentating for ABC.
Most importantly for the purposes of this column, Chaffee is a Trojan.
USC didn’t have a women’s tennis team when Chaffee was a student, but the women’s tennis media guide should mention her in its history section. It currently does not.
Of course Allyson Felix never competed for USC and has a field named after her. Go figure.
A DIFFERENT WORLD
The USC basketball team played in a summer league at Alhambra and Mark Keppel High Schools in 1950. The teams would often take on the names of sponsors. USC competed as Phelps-Terkel, the well-known clothing store that was actually on the USC campus.
For one game, USC played against Clifton’s Cafeteria.
This was the same year major-league baseball star Ralph Kiner and fellow baseball player Max West opened a sporting goods store across the street from Alhambra High School, where the pair went to school.
- Look at this ad for Desmond’s dept. store, which was founded in 1862 and was the second-oldest Los Angeles retail chain behind only Harris & Frank.
Back in 1947, being in a USC fraternity was apparently worth advertising. The funny part is Jackie Musick is merely listed as a “Popular Trojan.”
Musick was a USC offensive lineman from 1944-46 from Santa Ana High School. While working at Desmond’s in 1947, he was an assistant coach at Monrovia High School and became head coach at Hart High School in 1951.
Musick eventually became head coach at Cornell University in 1966 and then in 1971 was named Division I coach of the year by the American Football Coaches’ Assn. after going 8-1. His star player was tailback Ed Marinaro, a unanimous All-American who won the Maxwell Award in 1971.
Who knew? The Trojan coaching tree is impressive.
- USC tight end Bob Klein has a full mouth as he takes part in a pancake-eating contest against UCLA at the International House of Pancakes in Hollywood in 1967.
- This is a beautiful photo of USC defensive end Jimmy Gunn pursuing UCLA quarterback Gary Beban in 1967.
- Look at how sports like football and track used to help each other in the list below of players who enrolled at USC for the spring semester in 1967.
O.J. Simpson actually ran track for the Trojans before he played football. Offensive lineman Steve Lehmer, who was a three-year starter for the Trojans, was a top discus thrower on the 1967 and 1968 NCAA championship teams. Lehmer and Simpson won an NCAA track team title before he suited up for a football game.
Lehmer was involved in perhaps the most memorable play in USC history when O.J. Simpson went 64 yards for a TD vs. No. 1-ranked UCLA on Nov. 18, 1967.
Simpson exploded through a hole on the left side of the line courtesy of blocks by tackle Mike Taylor and Lehmer. The touchdown gave the Trojans a 21-20 victory and led to them winning the national championship.
“I was left offensive guard and we had a pass play called in the huddle and there was an audible on the line,” Lehmer said. “(Quarterback) Toby Page called Red 23 (a running play) and I didn’t hear it. So I stood up to pass block and a linebacker stayed in his zone and (I) possibly facilitated O.J.’s run.”
Besides Simpson and Lehmer, USC track coach Vern Wolfe also brought in John FitzSimons, the British Commonwealth champion in the javelin and Max Lowe, the California JC state high jump champion. That’s a pretty good spring recruiting class for track.
Simpson came to USC from San Francisco City College where he gained 2,552 yards and ran 100 yards in 10.6 seconds.
- It was during this period Steve Sogge was a quarterback on the USC football team and a three-year all-conference catcher on the baseball team. Ponder that. The quarterback playing catcher!
Imagine a USC quarterback today playing catcher. The media fanboys think it’s a big deal that Duce Robinson had six at-bats this season for the baseball team.
You know who else was a catcher besides Sogge in 1967? Ron Drake, who was USC’s leading receiver in 1966.
When USC won the College World Series in 1968, Sogge started at catcher and Drake started at third base.
- As long as we’re focused on 1967, look at this gauntlet UCLA faced winning the NCAA basketball championship. The Bruins had a first-round bye, then faced Wyoming in the Sweet 16 and Pacific in the Elite Eight.
They then went to the Final Four, where they beat Houston and then Dayton in the national championship game. I’ll bet Dan Hurley would have something to say about that road to the title.
VIDEO OF THE WEEK
Summer is a time for travel. If you’re not, here is a chance to spend a moment in Madrid, Spain.
InsideUSC with Scott Wolf 
Some Dims are crying about Maria’s tweet last night, when all she did was state the truth! THEY CAN’T HANDLE THE TRUTH!
https://x.com/mariashriver/status/1806522821344154110
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I’ll take the guy who sucks at debating over the fascist.
Quit being a pest and go find something productive to do……start with the dump you live in. The neighbors call it an “eye sore”
……PS…..Joe thanks you for the free rent
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I guess you’re withdrawing the “Joe will crush it” thing…..
#SoCalWasRight
#GabbyWasRealNotRight
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4am and you’re already trolling the blog…..what a fucing freak….get a life old man……I am embarrassed for you…
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She never admits when she’s wrong. She pathetically tries to use the “lesser of two evils” excuse, when reality is there’s no acceptable excuse for going with a feeble, weak old man with dementia when we are talking about the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES!
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2am…. 1am…. it can’t be said enough….
#You’veLost
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You comfirmed it…….you’re lost!
it’s sad that this blog is your life…
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Replying to Gabb above…
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Great choice, especially in event of a major war or catastrophe, we need a quick thinker like him.
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Ha!
It took Biden 14 seconds to say “we beat Medicare ” [and that’s not even what he wanted to say]….
#MissileStrikeDecisionsMustBeMadeIn6Seconds…
#…AndTheyHaveToBeRight
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YOU’RE STARTING TO TAKE THE BAIT LIKE YOUR BUTT-SNIF SLO Cal……WELL PLAYED
IF YOU CLAIM TO TRUST PUTIN MORE THAN YOUR GENERALS, YOU MIGHT HAVE SOME MENTAL ISSUES
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Last night she was dumb enough to claim Joe kicked Trump’s butt in the debate! Now Joe merely sucks at debating. Has nothing to do with cognitive issues that prohibited him from keeping up! 😉
Next, someone will be dumb enough to claim it’s just that Joe has a stuttering problem. LMAO
That’s why she’s the Blog Dunce/Village Idiot.
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When it comes to politics, Gabby needs a rest….now is a good time to start.
#OnlyTalkPostSnapFootball,Gabb
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When it comes to politics, MG needs a rest….now is a good time to start.
#OnlyTalkAboutYourAdmirationForScott,MG
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Joe kicked a$$ figurately……He was able to show swing voters that trump is a habitual liar and can’t be trusted with any promises he makes. You’re too fucing limited between the ears to comprehend the cause and effect.
It doesn’t matter how Joe delivers the message the results speak for themself and the majority will not elect a lying babbling buffoon who has been convicted of 34x felonies…..quit being dishonest with yourself
The hilarious part is you don’t even vote yet try to act concerned
There you have it folks….the blog dunce proves once again he’s the dumbest man on the internet…must suck to be him
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Oh, noooooo…
#NoneAreSoBlindAsThoseWhoRefuseToSee
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She proves it with virtually every post.
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So Cal: Don’t agree with the Shriver post. She calls China Joe “a good man” with “a good heart” before suggesting that he now needs to be replaced. You can’t take 30 million in bribes from foreign interests and be a good man. You can’t ignore immigration laws that you have an obligation to enforce and be a good man. You can’t re-define Title 9 to allow transgendered males to compete against real women and be a good man. You can’t weaponized the DOJ against your political enemies and be a good man with a good heart.
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Dems actually can’t face the enormity of the problem, Plow….
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Given your logic……trump isn’t a good man either……yet you still want him in the WH….what a fucing idiot….
HYPOCRITE!!!!!
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Nice to see that the blog dunce is now acknowledging that Biden is corrupt. But given his limited reasoning skills, he is still unable to decipher that the things that make him corrupt such as taking bribes, intentionally not enforcing the immigration laws and weaponizing the DOJ do not plague Trump.
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Nice to see that the blog dunce aka 80-year-old hunchback aka failed lawyer aka coward is now acknowledging that trump is corrupt. But given his limited reasoning skills, he is still unable to decipher the things that make him corrupt such as taking bribes, sexual assault, 34 felony convictions, starting an insurrection, illegal possession of classified docs, fake electors, and sucking Putin’s mushroom do not plague Biden
BAAAAAMMM CROTCH KICK……..DUMBA$$ GOT BEAT AT HIS OWN GAME
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Jimmy Gunn gunning down Yucla’s Gary Beban, it doesn’t get much better than that
Chose to watch again Bruce Willis playing a ghost in the Sixth Sense instead of watching the 2 ghosts debating last night as I didn’t want to see Bitin stumbling all over the place and Stump lying all over the place. What a choice, America!
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And thanks birthday Wolf for putting on that soothing music, the world is still a marvelous place if you know where to look
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Bitin: Guess that wasn’t such a great idea getting in front of the American public like that
Stump: Yep, you showed ’em alright
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Unlike fools on both sides who only listen to news outlets who support their side, we listen to both. Post debate, CNN conducted a poll that showed 81% remain unchanged after debate, 14% reconsidering and 5% changed their mind. One of the pundits actually had the nerve to claim those numbers are insignificant!
It was hilarious how the entire CNN panel was in shock and claiming the White House (KJP) has been lying about Joe’s condition! THEY lied in 2020 and helped Joe get elected when he was already showing obvious signs of dementia! Smart people knew Joe had no business being the Leader of the Free World. The people who voted for all of this have so much blood on their hands.
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100%
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Last week Orv Mohler was described by a USC coach as the greatest football player he ever saw. Mohler went to Alhambra High. So did Ralph Kiner and Bob Boyd. I remember shopping at Max West Sporting Goods as a kid. It was a special place. Max would spend 20 minutes with a kid and his parents to make sure he got a quality glove and baseball cleats. Those days are gone.
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Bitin: Of course the truth of the matter is I might be the face of the government but I have handlers that do most of the work
Stump: Not me, I work alone
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Time to grow up politically…
#TooMuchAtStakeToKeepPlayingGandhi
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STFU!…….. GO STAND UNDER A COCONUT TREE AND SHAKE IT…..I HOPE TO GET THE RESULTS I AM LOOKING FOR
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Gabber:
At least you have the gumption to take a side….. I can deal with that …….we don’t have to hear “Everywhere I look I see sin….if only there were a canonized saint in the race” coming outta your mouth……
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Scott Wolf celebrated his 67th birthday yesterday. It would be a nice gesture if Lincoln Riley invited him to a practice this season. No one else at USC has in years!
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Happy Belated Birthday, Scott!
#NeverHasOneDoneSoMuchForSoMany
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Agreed!! Happy Birthday, Scott!!
MG, I’ll leave the babysitting to you for the next several hours.
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So Cal: This just in from NBC—- “All 16 Biden debate coaches now question strategy of telling Biden to vacantly look into camera with mouth open when Trump was speaking.”
#”We May Have Given SNL Too Much Material”
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Percent of those here who changed their minds after the debate- 0
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Is there anything more boring than a political know-it-all?
And Lebron James got his wish or was it his command to the Lakers’ front office to draft his son?
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“Is there anything more boring than a political know-it-all?”
Yes. A political “know nothing.” And political know nothings are a danger to democracy.
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A son of a ‘Legacy’ sportsman will always be compared to the ‘old man’ but never before when playing for the same team, which will only show that Brawny is no Lebron and probably not of NBA-caliber
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We as a country should be ashamed that we have allowed politics and politicians to become what it is today. If anyone thinks that these career politicians are there to represent the American people-and America, they are sadly mistaken. They are there for themselves, their party and money and power. No elected official should be able to serve for more than 4 years. If they can’t accomplish what needs to be done, boot their ass out! As much as I dislike Trump and the stupid things he did, because he wasn’t a “career politician” and he wasn’t beholden to anyone/any group, that alone scared both the republican and democrat career politicians. From day one, they tried to get him out of office.
Also, last night, America saw WHY Biden doesn’t ever have any normal press conferences. They saw why he has handlers where ever he goes. They saw why we should all be worried about our commander in chief.
Both my parents died from Alzheimers-so I am very familiar with the looks, the stares and the mannerisms. Shame on the democrats to have Joe as their nominee-and to Jill Biden to not protect her husband-instead the whole world gets to see how much he’s declined. Also, shame on the republicans to have Trump as their choice. You can’t tell me that there isn’t someone that’s way more qualified and less of an ass?
As an independent voter, I am pissed that I have to choose between these two. I am also pissed that the politicians think that the American people actually believe anything that they say and their excuses. How about giving the publicly credit for not being morons?
The normal life cycle of a democracy is around 200 years…and we’re well beyond that now. I fear for the future of our children-as I believe that there will be major changes coming before long.
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LIKED!!!!!!!!!…… Also, shame on the republicans to have Trump as their choice. You can’t tell me that there isn’t someone that’s way more qualified and less of an ass?
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If 81M (supposedly) hadn’t been dumb enough to go with dementia & weakness in 2020, we would all be deciding who follows Trump as he currently nears the end of his second term. You can blame them for us being in the situation we’re now in, stuck with these two again.
They didn’t care about the 1M+ who have died or the tens of millions who have suffered as a result of this administration’s failures. They’re far too selfish. Mean orange man out is all they cared about.
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…and they’re so afraid to admit how wrong they were that they’d rather go down with the Biden Ship than demand & get behind a better candidate …..
#SuicidallyDumb
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They simply hate Trump more than they love the country & their countrymen.
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There is NO other explanation, So Cal…..
#….AnEntirePartyInDenial
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You magats better hope Michelle doesn’t ran…..She would would slap trump around at the ballot box…..Be careful what you wish for
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-And a mild shoutout to Wolf’s 3-Day birthday party being ‘celebrated’ all through WolfLand where perhaps as many as 20-regulars chime in, and no doubt we owe Scott some gratitude for allowing us to blow off some steam once in a while-
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Speaking of ‘blowing off steam’ I am incensed at how potential recruits are shunning USC thus resulting in setting back the Trojans years from being ‘legit’ Top-10
So that part of me that is ‘football oriented’ I soothe myself with memories of McKay and Carrot dynasties, certain plays, the feel of the crowd
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I have come to realize….MG needs a good a$$ whipping……Gabby needs to line the three stooges up and get it done all at once…..
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With further steam vented- why is SC ‘mining’ Georgia when you know those Southern boys love ‘Georgia&Alabama football?
And maybe it’s time to stop calling these teenagers “recruits” because they signed some paper, maybe they should do away with the paper stuff and only believe he is ‘yours’ when he puts on the uniform
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Maybe the ‘correct’ way to look at SC footall is to view it from a ‘decades approach- 50s not so great, 60s and 70s great, 80s and 90s not so great, 2000s great, 2010s not so great, 2020s?
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Or recall the great years of 2003, 2004, 2005, 2016, 2022, 2024?
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Biden is on the stump today, sharp as a tack, slapping trump around like a pinata. ….EPIC!
Biden is the gift that keeps on giving….
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Best part, the crowd started chanting “LOCK HIM UP”
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Serious Open Letter To The Gabber:
There was a time when you made serious points [which I disagreed with but had to admit were well argued] So Cal sez it was just me placating you. Not so. I don’t mind pointing out foolishness…… and I don’t even mind a fair fight if that’s what a guy really wants. Lately, though, you’re putting the colors of a certified moron on the lance you’re taking into battle. Why? There is a chance your old flame [code name, Hillary] might take the nomination away from Joe at the convention. Now is the time to change boats....not go down with the ship.
#FileUnderFriendlyAdvice
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P. S.
Hillary would lose worse than 2016….but at least she wouldn’t blink and squint trying to say the word “corporation”…
#Corpatoration…Copartation…corpia…Look, we ended medicare”
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trump said after the debate- “I have never told a lie I didn’t like”
when 40 of your previous 44 former cabinets members and former VP won’t endorse you ….you have some obvious character issues.
People realize never believe what comes out of trump’s mouth!
TRUMP FOR THE ELECRTIC CHAIR!
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How does the saying go, If you are not much of a public speaker then ‘keep your mouth shut and don’t debate or else open your mouth and remove all doubt’
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“More importantly….Chaffee is a Trojan” writes the birthday boy, and wouldn’t you know all that negative armor he’s built up around himself, underneath he bleeds ‘cardinal and gold
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MG: They are definitely going to replace Biden. That was the reason behind having the debate before the convention. First time that ever happened. The Black, extreme Leftist wing of the Dems will want Kamala but she is unelectable. Her numbers are lower than Biden. Some will settle for Michelle Obama if they can’t have Kamala but she is grossly underqualified having never accomplished anything of significance and probably doesn’t want the job. That leaves Gavin Newsom or a player to be named later. It won’t be Hillary. I’m betting a player to be named later. Could be Elizabeth Warren or Susan Rice.
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Whether it’s Joe or Gretchen or Gavin….. doesn’t matter. Trump is the next President…..and it looks like he’ll have majorities in the House and Senate….
#MyPrediction:HorseManureVideosTheEveningOfNovember5th..
#..&LotsOfInvitationsToFight…WhichWe’dAllLikeToTakeHimUpOn
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P. S.
Biden said “no soldiers died” cuz he doesn’t care enough to recall all the soldiers who did….
#TheyDidn’tEvenRegister….
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trump said…”I never had sex with a porn star”
so the 130k was a gift…right, MG
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I think it will likely be a close election Michael. Trump won 17 of 18 “bell weather” counties in 2020. Since 1948 these counties always managed to vote with the winner of the Presidential election but for some reason that didn’t happen in 2020. The only explanation is that the new rule changes favor the Dems -early voting, automatic registration through the DMV and other agencies, mail in voting, voter harvesting, ballot boxes, lower standards for signature verification, late mailing and counting of the ballots, ect. This could easily mean a 2 to 3 point swing and in a relatively tight election that means all the difference. I am particularly concerned with ballot harvesting which is now legal in California. More Dems live in urban areas where ballot harvesting in apartment buildings and government housing is much easier than in the suburbs and rural areas.
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Already making excuses and whining and crying about voter fraud….you’re a joke…..embarrassing
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Didn’t say voter fraud Goober. I said “rule changes.” I also said that voter harvesting is now legal in California. Read, think, and then post. You will do much better when you employ this simple method.
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ONCE AGAIN……..Already making excuses and whining and crying about voter fraud….you’re a joke…..embarrassing
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why wait until Nov5th…….the videos will start tomorrow
I would take great pleasure in beating your a$$ right now……you’re just another little hunchback, wrinkled prune. Who in the fuc gets knocked out by a heavy bag…..a weakling……Joe laughed his a$$ off when I told him about it.
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The Gabber thinks he’s having conversations w/Joe…..
#TheGabberThinksHeWouldn’tGetBustedUpInFight…
#Gabber’sAlwaysLookingRightWhenPunchComesFromLeft..
#..AndViceVersa
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(BURP!)
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Plow: The idea that we continue to count mail-in ballots…without adequate signature verification protocols….. is nauseating. As Prez Carter’s Election Commission said, “Mail-in ballots without proper controls is an invitation to mass fraud.”
#FraudWILLContinueUnabated…
#BidenWillStillLoseInLandslide
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yet trump inserted fake electors……that have actually been indicted…..
wipe the drool!
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MG: France tried mail in ballots and then gave up on it in 1975. Too much fraud. I now believe that the government intentionally exaggerated Covid deaths so they could implement these voter rule changes and other measures. I recall that Biden’s public health advisor a few years ago said that 75 to 90 percent of the deaths attributed to Covid were not primarily caused by Covid but rather people dying of heart disease, ect. who also had Covid. Now that Covid is not a threat perhaps was not merely the threat it purported to be, why are we not going back to casting a ballot at a certified polling site in front of our friends and neighbors.
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Why? Cuz signing in at a designated polling place which required a photo I. D. would split the dem vote in half…..
#..AndThatWouldn’tBeEquitable
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PlaSChke doesn’t like this James 1 and James 1A circus, and it does feel like the Kobe 2-year going away party that sunk the Lake for a time
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Allowing Bitin to debate and go on display before the entire country is up there with “Boston sells Babe Ruth to Yanks,” or “Buckner blows World Series”
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Biden should have used Fredo’s words: “I’m smart, I can handle things, not like everybody says.”
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Funny how Michael & Fredo hooked up again in Dog Day Afternoon. (And again “Fredo” died, this time as Sal.)
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“Ok, Sal —let’s point that rifle up so no one gets hurt, okay?”
Bang.
Sal???
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Attica! Attica!!
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Had the pleasure & privilege of seeing Pacino on stage portraying Tennessee Williams in “God Looked Away” at the Pasadena Playhouse several years ago. He was amazing!
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