The midterms are on November 3, just five weeks away, with early voting beginning October 24. There are lots of dark forces working to rig the system, and we’re all sick of feeling like Charlie Brown with the football. But rather than feeling defeated, those are just reasons why it’s more important than ever to show up and vote! Speaking of dark forces, Wannabe Dictator Trump just released three ads ahead of the midterms. They’re all recycled material, from previous presidential campaign ads or more recent America 250 events (edited to eliminate the sad-sack energy of the real events). And all of them center Trump. Because of course Don still believes he’s an asset to Republican campaigns, instead of just the ass dragging everyone down. But here’s the rub: we the taxpayers paid for these asinine propaganda videos, to the tune of over $1 million (at least). At the bottom of each ad it says, “Paid for by the U.S. Government,” which is absolutely illegal. So much so, that even Republicans (including Senator Foghorn Leghorn Kennedy!) are condemning the move.

The ads appear to be part of a campaign blitz ahead of the November midterms, in which the GOP is hoping to defend its majorities in Congress.

Some lawmakers, including from his own Republican Party, are raising concerns with Trump and the White House over the advertisements. Asked about the ads by CBS News on Sunday, Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana said: “I don’t think any public official, including President Trump or Kristi Noem or John Kennedy, should spend public money on private ads for themselves.” (Kennedy was referring to former Homeland Security Secretary Soem, who came under fire for spending $220 million on an advertising campaign for border security.)

When asked about the “Love Me” ad, Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina said that the use of taxpayer money was reminiscent of the far-right former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. “It’s inappropriate,” Tillis told reporters.

Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican and a vocal Trump critic, posted on social media about the “Final Battle” ad: “Don’t worry, using taxpayer dollars to run ominous campaign ads of the President has been done before and is completely legal… in banana republics.”

…But the White House has defended the ads—which it called, in a Sept. 25 press release, “public service announcements.” A White House official told TIME Friday that the ads weren’t political, didn’t have a call to action, and that the President wasn’t on the ballot.

A spokesperson instead said that the ads were “about reminding Americans to love their country and understand what makes it worth defending, at home, at our borders, and abroad.”

Since the 1950s, yearly funding bills—including the appropriations measure the President recently signed—routinely ban the use of taxpayer funds for “publicity or propaganda.”

The Government Accountability Office, which investigates how appropriated funds are spent, has interpreted this to refer to material that is “purely partisan,” “self-aggrandizing,” or “covert.” But it also noted that administrations may need to advocate or defend their policies.

…“When prior Administrations utilized the airwaves, it was called ‘public education,’” the Trump White House said. “When this Administration promotes pride in our country, many of those same voices call it ‘propaganda.’”

[from Time]

Remember that 2006 movie Stranger Than Fiction, where Maggie Gyllenhaal plays a baker not paying a portion of her taxes so as not to fund the nefarious actions of the government she disapproves of? It wasn’t a great film, but that one character trait sure resonates today. (Note: at this point I am legally obligated to state clearly and unequivocally that no one at CB is advocating for fudging your taxes.) I mean really, a PSA? A PSA?? Only if that stands for propaganda slop ads. These blowhard videos could not be more “self-aggrandizing” if they tried! Also, how can the White House claim these ads are not political, when some of them are mere reruns of Trump campaign ads… when he was running for political office?! I know I know, I’m the fool for trying to find any semblance of logic from the Trump-Vance Sadistic-Incompetent Administration. What’s more, I don’t need this White House to remind me to love my country. I do that on my own — which is why I always vote, and vote BLUE.

You can check if you’re registered to vote HERE, and you can look up your state’s registration deadlines HERE. We know what happens when we don’t show up; we don’t know what may happen when we do show up.

Screenshots from MS NOW and CBS Mornings on YouTube