Ellen Comisar 🇮🇱 🇺🇦

Thrilled to help celebrate another blazin' birthday for A Mighty Blaze, now 6 years old. The brainchild of two authors in yoga pants, @jenna_blum & Caroline Leavitt, the Blaze has assumed a brilliant role in the book industry 📚 Pants are still 💯 optional!!

"Life: A Love Story" by Elizabeth Berg paints an "unforgettable portrait," says Chicago Review of Books. A Mighty Blaze's Friday Frontliner with host @Jenna_Blum, a co-founder of the Blaze. 3 PM ET TODAY

"Chaos, Creativity, Completion," edited by @rebeccamakkai, @chloepoet, @lisavhadley and Robin Black, illuminates "a different path to wholeness, not alone but always interconnected," says Chris Martin ("May Tomorrow Be Awake"). A Mighty Blaze's Friday Frontliner. 4 PM ET TODAY

"Life: A Love Story" by Elizabeth Berg is "a deceptively simple story with hidden depths [and] exhibits great range in her portrayal of the folksy Flo ... Readers will be charmed by this heartening tale," says @PublishersWkly. A Mighty Blaze's Friday Frontliner. 3 PM ET TODAY

@wxbywilliams @brownsgirlinAZ @redNYer @RepJoeMorelle I never suggested that low-income are not smart enough to have an ID & you are smart enough to know that. I said the proposed Act requires IDs that are costly &/or hard to get, esp. for lower-income citizens. Financial & job insecurity shouldn't prevent citizens from voting

@elesscom @brownsgirlinAZ @redNYer @RepJoeMorelle So you are now resorting to ad-hominem attacks I see. You apparently don't realize that once you've stooped to that level, you've lost the argument. But your argument was already weak and transparent. Amazing that you think low income folks are not smart enough to have an ID.

The SAVE America Act would hand over Americans’ sensitive information to DHS. That’s not election security, that’s a violation of your privacy.

@brownsgirlinAZ @wxbywilliams @redNYer @RepJoeMorelle Perhaps, but my concerns about the Act are more focused on who will have the opportunity to vote than on who wins the elections. And, I am tired of politicians (& others) who create a rationale & mask their true intentions; fraud & cheating is rampant, just not at polling places

@elesscom @wxbywilliams @redNYer @RepJoeMorelle Honestly Ellen- I think GOP is going to be worse off. Look at the data for college educated ppl with passports. It’s incredibly high. They will be ok to vote. They have the paperwork. College educated voters have leaned DEM in last several election cycles.

@redNYer @wxbywilliams @brownsgirlinAZ @RepJoeMorelle The standard cannot be based on the ease with which I would be able to comply but on the barriers the Act would create for the citizenry as a whole. You can call a skunk a cat, if you like, but it still stinks. And this Act, with a poll tax disguised by a pseudonym, is a skunk.

@wxbywilliams @brownsgirlinAZ @elesscom @RepJoeMorelle You just explained how easy it was for you to comply with the safe act….so what’s the problem.? That is exactly what they are asking for.

@wxbywilliams @brownsgirlinAZ @redNYer @RepJoeMorelle Kevin, good thing ppl don't expect meteorologists to be right. The GOP wants to stop/deter some (primarily lower-income) citizens from voting. Will a few cheaters be caught in the process? Sure. Will turnout suffer? Yes. And who benefits from low turnout? The GOP. Case closed

@brownsgirlinAZ @redNYer @elesscom @RepJoeMorelle The only reason to be against this is to be able to cheat. That's all. Good night.

@wxbywilliams @brownsgirlinAZ @redNYer @RepJoeMorelle And don't get me started on passports, which=valid for 10 yrs but can't be used for int'l travel if they will expire in 6 months or less. And what happens if you need to fly in the US after you've turned in your valid passport with the renewal form? Pay for a Real ID, too??

@wxbywilliams @brownsgirlinAZ @redNYer @RepJoeMorelle Hard to get a Real ID from the DMV if the process is bureaucratic, time-consuming & costly ... but I believe that's the point. BTW, I am convinced that Real IDs represent a government-sponsored money grab & that enhanced security is the excuse.

@brownsgirlinAZ @redNYer @wxbywilliams @RepJoeMorelle This ⤴️ If the only ID that is acceptable is one you have to pay for, then the govt is enacting a poll tax without using those words. No citizen should be disenfranchised because the req'd ID is costly (in $$ or time away from work). Last I read, DMV wait times were horrendous

@redNYer @wxbywilliams @elesscom @RepJoeMorelle Democrats aren’t against voter ID! It’s SAVE and how they are defining what is acceptable. Do you not get that only 5 states have enhanced RealID that shows citizenship? 45 states will need extra docs with their ID to vote. I have a passport. I’m good. But this is BS.

Caroline Leavitt, the other co-founder of A Mighty Blaze welcomes Friday Frontliners @rebeccamakkai, @chloepoet, @lisavhadley & Robin Black to discuss "Chaos, Creativity, Completion." It highlights 15 "ADHD writers who don’t color inside the lines," says Tracy Otsuka. 4 PM ET FRI

.@Jenna_Blum, a co-founder of A Mighty Blaze, welcomes Elizabeth Berg as a Friday Frontliner to discuss her latest novel, "Life: A Love Story." This book "resonates with relatable characters, consequential little things & the power of forgiveness," says @ALA_Booklist. 3 PM FRI

You know your Twitter posts are landing well when the immediate responses are ad hominem attacks, statements of presumed disabilities, references to unrelated bad actors on spring break, Elon, etc. I used to expect more from local TV news folks. Silly me

@wxbywilliams @RepJoeMorelle If you're worried about fraud, perhaps you should focus on those with measurable consequences. You could start at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. & work your way down the family tree. No need to reply until you finish that investigation

@elesscom @RepJoeMorelle Nope. You realize that SNAP recipients need ID, right? Yes. Strawman. So you are ok with some fraud? OK then.

@wxbywilliams @RepJoeMorelle Real ID? A passport?

@wxbywilliams @RepJoeMorelle Do you worry that poor citizens will be disenfranchised because they cannot afford an approved ID? Do you trust that the government won't use your ID to figure out how you filled in your ballot? Can you identify any election outcome that was changed fraudulent votes?

@RepJoeMorelle You are really getting desperate. Exactly what "sensitive information" are you talking about? (I realize you won't answer-you never have.) Your social security number that is already required on tax forms? Your birthdate which is already required for health insurance? WHAT???

My camera cut out midway through this interview, but the conversation remained fascinating! Great to learn about Nancy Foley & her earlier award-winning career!!!

At the top of the hour, Nancy Foley joins me in the Debut Spotlight to discuss her debut novel, "I Am Agatha." Watch on A Mighty Blaze's Facebook page or right here ⤵️ youtube.com/live/xzDltHpCY…. Leave any questions for Nancy in the YT chat!