2022 Midterm Elections

[GreyhoundFan]

It's sad how ugly Dr. Oz and his staff are. Fetterman had a stroke, that's not something to mock.

 

[apple1]

13 hours ago, SassyPants said:

Let’s not forget the Senate already has Rand Paul, also a Dr who has made some horrible remarks about Covid, vaccines etc-

His license to practice medicine should also be revoked.

Seriously.

[GreyhoundFan]

Oh Rufus, please let Stacy become governor.

 

[GreyhoundFan]

I wasn't quite sure where to share this interesting piece. I so hope it's true. "A storm is coming: It might sweep Trump and the GOP into history's dustbin"

Quote

One afternoon in college I found myself picking up trash at a Wendy's parking lot on the Business Loop in Columbia, Missouri.

I can't remember what happened the night before — no nefarious story there.

I simply cannot remember the mundane routine of most days compared to the shock of that one. It began as a beautiful sunny day. Warm. Calm. Nice. I picked up the trash as part of my employment requirements that afternoon and glanced up to enjoy the sun. I looked toward the horizon and in the sky saw what looked like a fat dark purple line drawn by a Sharpie marker. 

I wasn't sure what I was looking at.

In a short time I found out. The squall furiously assaulted Columbia and sent the outdoor garbage cans I had just emptied, flying into the air like rockets.

Rain and hail exploded onto the ground; the combination caused near-immediate flooding and was responsible for broken windows, dented cars, downed trees, downed power lines and many damaged roofs. 

As a lover of big weather, it was memorable.

As strong as it was, that storm is nothing compared to the political storm brewing this fall.

The future of the country is in the balance. Vegas oddsmakers could go either way. The latest polls, current conventional wisdom and some cautionary words for the GOP from Mitch McConnell (who stands out not only for his narcissism but also because he's one of the few Republicans who can count) suggest that the GOP may recapture the House while failing to take the Senate. 

Trump followers, who've evidently studied the Beer Hall Putsch, believe the Trumplican party will be victorious and consume its enemies in hellfire, congressional hearings and a never-ending belittlement on conservative media. Some Republicans with gavel envy and a lust for power are reportedly looking at swatches for their new offices.

They preach civil war and destruction should they not prevail, or if Trump is denied a return to his golden throne. They say those things even as they drive their SUVs less than a mile to go grocery shopping, visit their doctors and hit the drive-through for their favorite cholesterol burger and then a convenience store for smokes and liquor. 

No one's going to risk a real civil war while those things are readily available — not for a period of time longer than it takes to march to the Capitol and get arrested. 

A recent NBC poll reports that "persuadable" voters — which means registered voters who are not core Democrats or Republicans — are "breaking toward the party controlling the White House and Congress," which would be the Democrats.

The Hill recently published an opinion piece that said the GOP's embrace of extremism has dimmed its midterm hopes. Perpetual Republican cheerleader Anne Coulter just announced the political demise of Donald Trump, using the words millions have already mouthed: "Trump is done."

Maybe she's right. Of course, we've heard all this before and that's part of the problem. When it comes to Trump, there's nothing new. It's just reruns and Trump's ratings are wearing thin. People are sick and tired of his pre-pubescent drama. 

In a recent month-long trip across the country I visited 15 states and cities, from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C. Some were large, and some were as small as Millersburg, Missouri. Everywhere I visited, and every person I spoke with — more than 100 in 30 days — expressed exhaustion and frustration with politics. And while registered voters of both major parties blame both parties for the sorry state of affairs in this country (while failing to place the blame on themselves), every single person I spoke with said they've "had enough" of the ongoing Trump political melodrama. They want it canceled.

Finally, at a Mexican restaurant in Fulton, Missouri, I met a woman who said she was afraid there is no "United" left in the United States. She had spoken recently with a close relative in Kansas City and that relative was apparently equally fearful about the future. 

"I'm just so tired of it all," she said to me. She blamed Trump for a lack of civility, as well as other politicians and, of course, the media. 

Progressives. Conservatives. Black. White. Immigrant. Hispanic. Male. Female. Gay. Straight. Trans. Rock n' Roll. Country. Bib overalls, G-Wagon, homeless or anything else. Everyone is tired of it. Well, except the ultra-rich. They're fine with it, since it doesn't adversely affect the bottom line, at least so far. But the rest of us are seriously exhausted by the vitriol in this country — vitriol we've all been intricately involved in creating. OK, some of us more than others.

Inflection point: Now.

The disgust with the lack of civility has converged with a growing anger brought about by the recent Supreme Court case reversing the 50-year-old Roe v. Wade decision. "The Catholics did that to us," one conservative Baptist told me in West Virginia. (Five of the six justices who voted to overturn Roe are conservative Catholics.) In Los Angeles, a rabbi told me, "I don't need to be preached to by other faiths about morality." 

A "devoutly" conservative woman I spoke with from rural Kentucky was most poignant. Her niece had an abortion because of a life-threatening condition. A "close" family member had an abortion because of an unwanted pregnancy from an abusive common-law husband she later left. 

"No one should tell us how to lead our lives," she explained to me. "That's what the Republicans used to be about. It was my body and my choice not to get vaccinated. The Republicans wanted government to leave us alone to make our own choices. But they don't want that anymore." 

A growing number of people now understand the Republicans as a brazen group of feckless bullies. Welcome to the party. The woman I spoke with in Kentucky said something echoed by at least a couple dozen others I spoke with in the last month: "I don't usually vote. I am this year. I've already registered — and I'm not voting for a Republican." 

That continues to be the key for the Democrats. If the voter turnout is large, then the Republicans are done, since there are more registered Democrats. Issues? The Republicans have already conceded on the issues. All the Republicans have left is fear — and that, like Trump, grows wearisome. 

Elie Mystal, a writer for the Nation, said on Mary Trump's livestream show Tuesday that it comes down to whether or not white women have "had enough" with the Republican Party. He's not wrong. But it's not just white women who are ready to flee the GOP. It turns out people don't like it when a civil right they've taken for granted for the last 50 years is suddenly yanked away. Ironically, it is the Republican Party's greatest victory — the Dobbs decision, delivered by a politicized Supreme Court — that may prove to be its undoing. 

Bottom line: Any person capable of cogent thought is fleeing Trump and the Republican party. Anne Coulter proves that even those not capable of cogent thought are fleeing Trump.

Trump is done. Trumpism? Well, waiting in the wings is Ron DeSantis, who already prides himself on limiting access to the media. Even those who love him hate him. Fortunately for the rest of the world — that is, the world outside Florida — DeSantis currently has the popularity of a malignant tumor. Of course, that's never stopped the Republicans. They excel at finding malignancies and helping them metastasize in the body politic. 

*  *  *

I finished my travels this week with a visit to Annapolis. 

There I saw the Reflecting Fools, the new political satire theater group that sprouted from the ashes of the Capitol Steps. The show left me feeling nostalgic for a future filled with education, science and a sense of humor.

I wasn't alone. One line delivered in a skit was met with thunderous applause. "Pay teachers more and Congress less" nearly got a standing ovation. It gave me hope that the United States may yet endure — if we can laugh at ourselves.

Trump can't do that, though he'd probably watch the show — he'll take any attention you throw his way — even when he's being mocked. DeSantis may be the true menace. He struggles to control media access with an il Duce like focus. Hell, when DeSantis frowns, he looks like Mussolini with hair.

A racial skit by the Reflecting Fools, featuring a Kermit the Frog impression, ended on a hopeful note: "We can all talk to each other civilly." It struck a resonant chord among the audience — a diverse, packed house with an average age of around 45, and at least progressive enough to laugh.

The show also featured a skit that posited that Democrats will prevail this November but still, somehow, find a way to "muck it up." It's long-running conventional wisdom that the Democrats will find a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, but this year it's in vogue to believe that Democrats, despite their propensity for self-immolation, have a real chance to win and solidify their majority in both houses of Congress. If that's what happens, Trump is done and the GOP is screwed. 

If the Republicans could only understand that they did this to themselves. In the end, history mat note it was the compulsive need for self-gratification that ultimately soured the most zealous of the Trump Republicans. It's one thing to get screwed. It's quite another to watch someone who wants to screw their own side more than they want to screw their supposed enemies; that's when it becomes too kinky. 

There's little hope for what's left of the GOP. We're watching it die, in a coming tempest that will reshape the political landscape for a generation. It looks to be Ron DeSantis' party now — and he's a true menace.

There's little hope for what's left of the GOP. Lindsey Graham will probably soon be an inmate in a rubber room, or wearing orange. Mark Meadows has gone MIA. Jim Jordan was recently seen on television sporting so much flop sweat that he looked like he just walked out of a college locker room. Jeffrey Clark got dragged out of his house in his pajamas. Rudy Giuliani is the target of a criminal investigation in Georgia. A 23-year-old assistant turned the tables on the former president in a highly publicized edition of the Jan. 6 hearings, and Donald Trump is apparently so upset that he's painting his walls with ketchup after being stupid enough not to return government documents — and lying about them repeatedly while also saying they were planted by the FBI and he declassified them anyway — maybe after he traded them for favors.

We are watching the Republican Party in its death throes.

That death is the nexus of a tempest that will reshape the political landscape for the next generation, and perhaps beyond. Whatever is left of the GOP looks to be DeSantis' party, and he's one of the most vile pieces of political excrement ever flung onto the scene.

So, yes — there is a storm coming. It's not a civil war. It's a reckoning — and I reckon the GOP would rather not face it. All the Democrats have to do is show up and vote, and the Republicans' beloved Supreme Court gave them an excellent reason to do so.

The FBI search of Trump's Mar-a-Lago home was merely an affirmation that those eager to flee the GOP needed, to let them know their instincts were right. When the facts are understood, Donald, it turns out that nobody likes a traitor.

 

[47of74]

Another Congressional candidate self-own

She's getting ratioed pretty hard over this one.  Most people are asking how the fornicate she knows they're undocumented?  Why were they walking?  Maybe they're walking cause they just live a couple blocks away and don't feel like driving. 

Brings up a point I've made before that it's impossible to judge someone's citizenship/residency/etc status just by looking at them.  I've been to parts of Spain, Italy, and Turkey where if you beamed people from their homes to the main street of a small Midwestern town you would not be able to tell just by looking at them that there was anything different about them.  And hell, some residents of those countries speak better English than we do.

On 9/1/2022 at 12:56 PM, GreyhoundFan said:

I wasn't quite sure where to share this interesting piece. I so hope it's true. "A storm is coming: It might sweep Trump and the GOP into history's dustbin"

 

Yeah if the Catholic church thinks I'm in a forgiving mood over what their justices did to this country they had best check the temperature in hell first. 

[fraurosena]

It's almost as if you can't judge a book by its cover...

You simply cannot tell anyone's background by how they look. I mean, sure, one's skin tone may indicate that one's ancestry isn't European (although you never know if there is some European blood mixed in even then!), but in reality, you just don't know. I've dug into my geneaology quite deeply and can trace some lines back to the 1400's. All very germanic, Dutch, German, Belgian, Austrian, and so on. But, in my family, myself included, there are some of us that have very distinct almond-shaped eyes that make you wonder if there aren't some asian genes that got mixed in somewhere wayyyy back. In order to find out I should probably do one of those ancestry tests... but although it would be a cool fact if it were true, it doesn't make me any more or any less me, and I would honestly rather be judged on my actions and behavior,-- looks, heritage and ancestry be damned. That's not my achievement but happenstance. It's about my choices and how I treat others that says all you need to know about me.

 

[GreyhoundFan]

Great quote from Fetterman:

 

[GreyhoundFan]

Every time I think I can't be more disgusted, the GQP finds a way to make things worse:

 

[GreyhoundFan]

I hope Peltola does win in November, that would be a long term R seat flipping to D.

 

[fraurosena]

5 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

Every time I think I can't be more disgusted, the GQP finds a way to make things worse:

 

His daughters hate his smell? And that prevents incest? This disgusts me to the core. For not only does that imply that a daughter not liking her fathers smell would stop her from having sex with her father-- it also implies that it's somehow up to her, not her disgusting father, to prevent it happening. And Mehmet Oz stating this, is actually saying that he would be interested, but for their active dislike of his smell... 

Edited September 7, 2022 by fraurosena

[fraurosena]

Powerful indeed.

 

[GreyhoundFan]

He really needs help.

 

[GreyhoundFan]

Another reason midterms are so important. "The hidden danger posed by a MAGA takeover of the House"

Quote

With Republicans favored to win the House, you’re already hearing a mind-numbing refrain: Once in the majority, Republicans plan to pursue “retribution” against President Biden and Democrats. How? By launching all kinds of investigations as payback on Donald Trump’s behalf.

This idea is already getting reproduced uncritically by major news organizations. The result is to create the impression that Republicans are merely telegraphing plans for some conventional political tit-for-tat.

But that obfuscates what is more likely the real story: Republicans are pre-fabricating a fake rationale to abuse their investigative powers in a way that isn’t remotely comparable to anything Democrats are doing. Such GOP spin deserves much more serious skepticism.

This reality is pressed on us by a new report in the New York Times that documents just how extreme some of this cycle’s House GOP candidates are.

As the Times notes, any GOP majority will probably be narrower than appeared likely earlier this year. A slim majority — plus the fact that the Trump-loyal America First Caucus is likely to grow — means GOP leaders will struggle to control their ranks. The Times hints at government shutdowns, debt-ceiling defaults and impeachments of everyone from the president down to (who knows?) even the aide who oversees the White House Easter egg hunt.

But the threat of a MAGA House takeover is even worse than this. That’s because a MAGA-fied House will have another, underdiscussed tactic at its disposal: using its fiscal and investigative powers to try to defund or hobble any and all investigations and prosecutions involving Trump.

How might this work? Here’s one way: A GOP majority could reinstate an obscure House rule permitting Republicans to use spending bills to zero out salaries of specific federal officials, or nix blocks of federal employees, functionally killing specific programs.

For instance, it might attempt to kill the salary of Attorney General Merrick Garland. Or it could try to defund — or cancel — any ongoing law enforcement investigations of Trump.

We need to distinguish this tactic from defunding the FBI, which GOP members such as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia have demanded. In a more MAGA-fied House, that effort might find support, but most Republicans probably wouldn’t back a wholesale dismantling of federal law enforcement.

By contrast, a more targeted attempt to defund specific officials or investigations could be harder for voters to understand and thus more politically inviting for Republicans.

“It is likely that they would use this process to block investigations and prosecutions of Trump,” congressional scholar Norm Ornstein told me. Indeed, Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) recently floated exactly this idea. It’s being talked about. It’s real.

Obviously, such an effort would be opposed by the White House and the Senate (if Democrats keep it). But a faction of House Republicans could threaten to shut down the government while demanding those targeted cuts protecting Trump, Ornstein says.

Even worse, they could use debt-ceiling fights to try to leverage those Trump-protecting cuts. “They could say, ‘We’ll let this whole country go into default unless you stop all these probes of Trump,’” Ornstein told me.

This becomes harder to avoid when you look at GOP candidates likely to win House seats. As the Times details, they include numerous people who are already vowing to use their powers to continue contesting Trump’s 2020 loss with sham investigations, among other tactics.

Here’s another threat: Such Republicans might try to influence the 2024 election. If a corrupt GOP governor were to take over a swing state — say, Doug Mastriano in Pennsylvania — and were to certify electors for Trump or an imitator in defiance of the popular vote, a House GOP majority in thrall to Trump could count those electors. Without reform of the Electoral Count Act, that would mean chaos.

A lot will turn on whether as speaker, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) would defy the Trumpist bloc and seek majorities with Democrats. Ornstein’s view: “McCarthy won’t do anything to block or counter the crazies.”

There will be a strong temptation to treat these threats as the tea party redux. While crazed opposition to President Barack Obama drove that era’s chaos, it was aimed at discernible policy goals such as repealing Obamacare or forcing spending cuts. This time will be different.

The threats of chaos won’t be about realizing fiscal priorities in any meaningful sense; they will more likely be cultishly devoted to preserving one man’s absolute impunity. A sizable bloc of House Republicans may well see it as a higher mission to put Trump beyond the reach of accountability and above the law.

With the House Jan. 6 select committee, Democrats are running a legitimate congressional investigation into Trump’s incitement of a mob assault on the U.S. seat of government. The Justice Department search warrant for Mar-a-Lago followed lawful processes and was approved by a judge.

If and when GOP plans in response come into sharper focus, let’s not uncritically describe this as “revenge” or “retribution.” Such words take it as given that GOP conduct will be in some meaningful sense retaliatory for — or even equivalent to — those actions, as if everything is political all the way down, and we can’t ever distinguish between good-faith government conduct and flagrant bad-faith abuses of power.

There’s no reason to capitulate in advance to that framing.

 

[GreyhoundFan]

I hope he isn't elected. Pennsylvania (and the world) deserve better:

 

[GreyhoundFan]

Night and day:

 

[GreyhoundFan]

He's a one-man generator of awful sound bites:

 

[Audrey2]

Truthfully, I really am not entirely sure how to handle Herschel Walker. If he truly is someone with significant learning challenges who was always passed along because of his athletic ability and tried to learn had teachers who helped him try to learn but didn't quite get it (I'm thinking of someone who presents like Priscilla Waller), I genuinely feel sorry for the way in which he is being used. If he is willfully ignorant, as I have seen some students who, despite teachers best efforts, choose not to listen not to learn not to put any effort into anything and think they're going to be successful, I have no patience with him. I would also have a lot of empathy if his apparent dimensional capacity is because of CTE or too many concussions while playing football. No matter what the situation I think he's a stooge being set up by the Republican party who they'll be able to control and who will also say dumb things to grab headlines like Lauren Bobert or MTG.

[fraurosena]

On 9/10/2022 at 2:38 AM, Audrey2 said:

Truthfully, I really am not entirely sure how to handle Herschel Walker. If he truly is someone with significant learning challenges who was always passed along because of his athletic ability and tried to learn had teachers who helped him try to learn but didn't quite get it (I'm thinking of someone who presents like Priscilla Waller), I genuinely feel sorry for the way in which he is being used. If he is willfully ignorant, as I have seen some students who, despite teachers best efforts, choose not to listen not to learn not to put any effort into anything and think they're going to be successful, I have no patience with him. I would also have a lot of empathy if his apparent dimensional capacity is because of CTE or too many concussions while playing football. No matter what the situation I think he's a stooge being set up by the Republican party who they'll be able to control and who will also say dumb things to grab headlines like Lauren Bobert or MTG.

Putting aside why Walker is the way he is (I tend to believe he really is that dumb); I’m much more cynical about the reasons why the Republicans are using him. He’s their token black dude. Their ‘look we’re not racist so you can vote R’ guy, in an attempt to win votes from POC’s. At the same time, to their racist base, Walker is a prime example of how stupid POC’s are, and how easy to manipulate.

(Hopefully completely unnecessary note: this is not my personal view)

[GreyhoundFan]

Another reason for PA voters to reject Dr. Oz. He's for animal torture. Graphic description under spoiler.

Spoiler

 

 

Fetterman likes animals:

[GreyhoundFan]

Oh, please, no more Bobo clones:

[fraurosena]

The R-corruption is astounding...

 

[GreyhoundFan]

I'm glad Dems are starting to hit back at nasty rethuglikans like Irene.

[GreyhoundFan]

It's unfortunate that too many voters in Marge's district seem to like her loud stupidity. Her opponent seems like a strong and reasonable person.

 

[Maggie Mae]

On 9/6/2022 at 4:09 PM, GreyhoundFan said:

I hope Peltola does win in November, that would be a long term R seat flipping to D.

 

I'm kind of worried about it, but so are the Republicans. Looks like they are going to push their people to vote Begich/Palin, vs before, when they told everyone to just "rank the red" or (industry specific) "rank the pro-development" candidates (and then linked to a bunch of statements that showed Peltola is also pro-development. 

There are also four people on the ballot this time, so it will like be the libertarian dude out first round, and his votes will split between Begich and Palin, then either Begich or Palin out. If Palin is out before Begich, it will likely go the same way. 

But different people will be voting. And they have more time to spread the message that this particular Begich isn't a Democrat (most of the Begich family is dem, and he's also not his completely insane father), and whatever other weirdness they plan on doing. (more webinars on how to vote, more small group sessions at people's workplaces telling them that Democrats are bad and how bad this ranked choice voting is). They might have learned, too, that people weren't a fan of watching Palin and Begich insult each other. 

And also the more people voting in general. We've also got the Murkowski vs Super Mean lady vs Dem No One knows, and the big one which is the Governor's race. (This particular Gov is so bad that they had record breaking numbers to sign the recall petition, but then a pandemic hit and that got put aside in the interest of public safety). 

I really hope Peltola wins in November. Her campaign is so positive and no one has bad things to say about her. 

[Audrey2]

7 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

It's unfortunate that too many voters in Marge's district seem to like her loud stupidity. Her opponent seems like a strong and reasonable person.

 

Too bad he probably won't win the election. I love his attitude! I think he and Katie Porter would be a formidable pair, especially if they're questioning somebody.