Republicans Win Big in Wave Election, Dems Lose Senate Control and Governors' Races, What's Next for Rand Paul? A.M. Links

• 

  Mitch McConnell / Facebook

  Republicans performed about as well as possible in the 2014 midterm election yesterday. The GOP took control of the Senate and increased its margin in the House. It is the first time Republicans have been in charge of both chambers since 2006. Which means…

• Gridlock! Sweet, beautiful gridlock!
• Democrats had hoped to stave off total defeat in the myriad governors' races, but here they fared much worse than expected. Republican reformers Scott Walker (Wisconsin) and Rick Snyder (Michigan) defeated strong challengers backed by big labor. Even blue states like Illinois, Maryland, and Massachusetts went to the Republicans.
• Libertarian and independent candidates had a "meh" election, however.
• A small setback for Rand Paul: the Kentucky legislature remained under Democratic control. That's a problem, because Paul needs state legislators to change the law to allow him to pursue both the presidency and re-election to his U.S. Senate seat in 2016.
• Speaking of the presidency, from now on all eyes will be on presumed candidates like Paul, Walker, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, and Rick Perry.
• Speaking of Paul, his father tweeted some controversial statements suggesting that the Republican takeover is actually a bad thing—it will empower neoconservativism, Ron Paul claimed. Vox seized upon the tweets as evidence of how the father is a liability to the son.
• In non-election news, Wayne Brady has been having a rough time.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Democrats had hoped to stave off total defeat in the myriad governors' races, but here they fared much worse than expected.

Their sweet, sweet tears will soon be our bitter ones as we come to grips with nothing changing.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Hello.

What did I miss?

[UnCivilServant]

From where I sit, nothing, NYC still abuses upstate.

[Ted S.]

I thought TEAM RED got an absolute majority in the State Senate.

Not that that much is going to change.

[UnCivilServant]

Is Skelos gone?

If no, nothing will change.

[UnCivilServant]

* Dean 'lefty' Skelos is a Cuomo pawn, and with him still leading the senate caucus, it might as well have been a team blue victory there. At least I get the consolation prize of knowing Klein is insignificant again.

[waffles]

Is Canada really part of upstate NY?

[Rufus J. Firefly]

No thanks. You can keep your soda and salt bans weirdos.

[UnCivilServant]

I want to cut off New Amsterdam at the Tappen Zee. Those bans are all from south of the Tappen Zee.

[Restoras]

Exactly. South of 287 should be it's own state.

[Drake]

It would be a vast improvement for everything above.

[Restoras]

Yup. I really wish NYC would form it's own city-state. It is a polity too radically unaligned with the rest of the state.

[BardMetal]

A return to city-states would be nice, sense most of the political divide in this country seems to be rural vs urban more then anything else.

[Restoras]

It is indeed. I wouldn't be surprised to see that happen in the next 20 years or so, at least in the really egregious examples (NYC, Chicago, etc).

[BardMetal]

How? Why would progs settle for just a city when they can use the city to control the whole state?

[Zombie Jimbo]

See, for example Philadlephia.

[Restoras]

I don't know how, all I know is that a lot of people north of 287 resent being ordered about by downstate liberal urban dwellers.

[Kool]

"No, you don't get a gun! Now shut up and grow my food."

[Restoras]

What Kool did there, was hit the nail on the head.

[Clown Hunter]

Autonomous for purposes of state and local governance, but still part of the state for purposes of federal elections.

Works for me.

I don't want to give the proggy hellholes a pair of Senators each by making them full have-their-own-star-on-the-flag States.

[Restoras]

A fair point but it does seem to me the urban/rural divide is widening with each election cycle. I just wonder how it will play out. It's not like urban liberals are going to be reasonable and just want to be liberal in urban environments - they want to control everything - for your own good, you see. I think a lot of non-urban folks are growing increasingly resentful of that.

[Lord Humungus]

I often drive into little podunk towns located in the upper part of the mitten. These places are hard to get to - no major highways going through these old farming communities. I imagine Washington - heck, even Lansing - seem like a million miles away.

[Free Society]

I wish the world was composed soley of thousands of Monaco's, Lichtensteins and San Marinos. Everyone would be freer and wealthier as a result.

[dave b.]

But for every Monaco, there is a Somalia with no ROADZZZZ!!!!

[Rhywun]

Don't blame me - I don't vote 🙂

I am highly amused that in district after district here in the city the incumbent D got over 90% of the vote - and that so many of them are known criminals.

[BardMetal]

But for now let us enjoy the taste of progressive tears...

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I can't hear you with my ears plugged in with orphan organs.

[pan fried wylie]

Orphan Organ: a pipe organ with notes low enough that orphans can climb into the pipes to clean them.

[UnCivilServant]

With the softness of the metals used in organ pipes, you don't want people going into them. They'd be hopelessly deformed (the pipes, not the people)

[pan fried wylie]

I did say orphans, not people, sheesh.

[Injun, as in from India]

Scott Walker won. I'm happy to see the government employee unions cry.

Hickenlooper is winning. I'm not thrilled about it.

[Clown Hunter]

These Midwest governor elections might just be the turning point against unions as power centers.

They've thrown everything at Walker twice now, and lost both times. The Union, I mean Democrat, party saw their representation in the legislature shrink as well. I think their place at the top of the political heap is history.

[cavalier973]

Walker has now won three elections in four years. That's some electability, right there, sir.

[Trigger Warning]

Their sweet, sweet tears will soon be our bitter ones as we come to grips with nothing changing.

+1 Bitch McConnell

[Auric Demonocles]

11/5/2014, the day that dissent became patriotic again.

[Pro Libertate]

I heard a guy on the radio this morning--a conservative guy--bitching about McConnell talking about working with Obama and Kevin McCarthy refusing to say he'd push to repeal Obamacare. Fucking GOP still doesn't understand why they won.

[WTF]

I know, the Stupid Party thinks it's because people want them to work with the Evil Party to GET THINGS DONE. Fucking morons.

[Pro Libertate]

Unbelievable. What I want done is more about things that need to be undone. And the godawful president isn't on board with that.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Libertarian and independent candidates had a "meh" election, however.

NO SPOILERS.

[hamilton]

Oh, clever, sir.

[Auric Demonocles]

Spoiler: You missed a pretty awesome game.

[hamilton]

Yeah yeah yeah. I'm deeply pissed and at the same time proud of what a devoted father I am. Or something.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Chrystia Freeland.

Elizabeth Warren North.

Enjoy.

https://vine.co/v/OOPUte3F06A

[hamilton]

She's an Inuit?

[KDN]

Those cheekbones are waaay too low.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

No but this vapid chick was EDITOR OF THE FINANCIAL TIMES!

And she uses vacuous terms like 'living wage'.

Sit on that for a second.

[Mike M.]

Libertarian and independent candidates had a "meh" election, however.

I'm still dying to know if Ann Coulter ever showed up at Ron Bailey's house.

[WTF]

Anyone seen anything from Bailey recently?

[Restoras]

Science!

[WTF]

*snort*

[Steve G]

She did, he just hasn't uttered the safe word yet..

[Doctor Whom]

What has been imagined can never be unimagined.

[Restoras]

Oh come on, that should be on pay-per-view!

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

I would pay NOT to view.

[Clown Hunter]

[Calls minions, orders up new business plan.]

[Snark Plissken]

"oat bag"

[Fist of Etiquette]

Republican reformers Scott Walker (Wisconsin) and Rick Snyder (Michigan) defeated strong challengers backed by big labor.

Damn you, Citizens United!

[The DerpRider]

I hate my state. How can the R governor route the D challenger while the D senator absolutely crushes the R challenger. And I don't even get to live in Amash's district. My city voted down legalizing pot. Meh.

[Drake]

I have often wonder the same. Is a big election just random stupidity and popularity contests?

[CE]

Judging from the commercials and the signs, yes.

[Lord Humungus]

I don't get it either... at least I live in Amash's district.

[Injun, as in from India]

You lucky guy. Amash is by far my favorite congressman

[Bee Tagger]

The good news: election day is over.
The bad news: analyze election day has started.

[Doctor Whom]

The good news, in a way: My prog Facebook friends are going apeshit about how the country will become the Republic of Gilead by COB today.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Mine are all silent. I feel like I should buy them all drinks.

[hamilton]

One of mine actually blacked out her profile picture, then changed it to a flag at half-mast.

Today is going to be a great day. (The rest of the next two years is probably gonna suck though).

[The Laconic]

Christ, it's exactly like their sports team lost, isn't it?

[Injun, as in from India]

I haven't been on Derpbook yet, but I'm looking forward to it tonight. The sadist in me is going to enjoy the epic whining.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Didn't they see this coming or were they deluded? I think it was fairly obvious the GOP was going to take the Senate.

[Auric Demonocles]

I saw someone on another forum blame this on the Democrats not running on Obamacare, so yes, I think they are that deluded.

[Rich]

Well, they can try running on Democratcare in 2016.

[Pro Libertate]

There are candidates that won't even mention the president's name. Can you imagine if they had run on his policies, especially Obamacare?

Given the extent of the Republican win, I wonder if it's remotely possible that they could repeal that horrid law and get enough Democrats to join in to override a veto? You'd think not, but plenty of Democrats will be worried about their seats.

[WTF]

Look for progtard 'analysts' to explain that they lost by not running on Obama's policies, because if they had embraced them they could have done much better.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

The trend at DU is that they were not progressive enough.

[Lord Humungus]

This sounds like the Republican's cry - "We need to be more conservative"

This election - beyond historic norms - was pretty much a "You Suck, Mr. President" result - much like '06.

[Bee Tagger]

I'm just very tired of Internet smugness and at this point whether its gleeful or resigned doesn't matter much.

[Auric Demonocles]

The stupid amount of "I voted" shit on Facebook was quite painful.

[See Double You]

No. Kidding.

[The DerpRider]

I happily announced I didn't vote. Link to a few Reason articles about not voting. My mom chided me. Good day.

[Restoras]

That was retarded. I so wanted to post something but then I remembered - it's facebook.

[Lord Humungus]

Donkey escapes from Swiss petting zoo, gets stuck in manhole

Fire crews had to free a donkey from a manhole in northern Switzerland on Saturday morning.

It is unclear how the donkey fell into the manhole in Pratteln, located 75 km northwest of Zurich, but fire officials said they thought it had been stuck throughout the night. A local man found the donkey around 8 a.m.

The donkey was lucky and only sustained some flesh wounds, police said.

[sarcasmic]

Party pooper.

I've made an ass of myself: Nilo the donkey rescued by firefighters after falling down a manhole

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....nhole.html

[Free Society]

Damn your dailymail link. Now I'm going to open 50 tabs of hot celebrity women in bikini's after I read the article.

[Injun, as in from India]

Donkey stuck in a manhole? I thought that had something to with yesterday's election.

[Pope Jimbo]

Manhole? Don't you mean asshole?

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

*narrows gaze*

[Libertarian]

It is unclear how the donkey fell into the manhole

Apparently they can't tell an ass from a hole in the ground.

[Frank Frankelson]

*Looks arounds and starts a slow clap*

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

*Peers inscrutably at the story*

[UnCivilServant]

Did you know the jackass?

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

I have no knowledge of said animal!

[SugarFree]

Yummy tears: Slate edition

The comments are a petulant bonanza of rationalizations.

[robc]

Any idea if Patterson set a record for an L in a KY senate race?

I dont remember anyone breaking 3% before.

[SugarFree]

No idea. The Lexington media is doing nothing but rending their clothes and gnashing their teeth at the Grimes lost.

[Pro Libertate]

Will Rand have to surrender his seat to run for president? I heard the legislature stayed Democrat.

[robc]

House did, which means it wont change. Not sure the Governor would have signed it anyway.

[Pro Libertate]

Oh, well. Bet Rand runs anyway.

[JEP]

That's the perk of having an actual profession. If his political career doesn't work out, he can always fix people's eyes again.

[robc]

He has been doing it some anyway.

[waffles]

I'm just here for the tears. I drink them up.

[Rich]

Increase the size of the electorate by 20 million or so -- likely what we'll see in 2016 -- and the Democrats will be just fine.

Easily done.

[waffles]

Now that's a fucking legacy!

[Rich]

It starts at O's press conference this afternoon.

[WTF]

The comments are especially delicious.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

This is a perfect day for trolling DU

Fuck Republicans. And fuck the fuckers who fucking vote for those fucks.

You're priming us for what is to come in about 7 hours. I have no idea why people are so fucked up to vote for a Republican. Fuck Republicans. Fuck their fucking Corporate media, NPR too. Oh, and lets not forget the registered fuckers who vote Republican simply by not getting to the polls. The registered non-voting fuckers are the ones who yell the loudest about what is happening to our country!

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

And fuck those lazy idiot fuckers who can't be bothered to fucking vote in a fucking midterm. They'll reap what they sew, but unfortunately so will we!

[Bee Tagger]

I may reap what I sew but that's my cross-stich to bear.

[Tonio]

Sigh. It's "reap what you sow" (homophone with "sew" meaning to plant crops, not to be confused with a female pig).

[Fist of Etiquette]

He's just tailoring his comments to the audience.

[hamilton]

You're saying his words in this thread are not what they seam?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Stop towing the lion for grammar nazis

[BiMonSciFiCon]

Woosh

[gaijin]

they'll reap what they sew

new socks?

[gaijin]

argh! refreshrefresh

[Fist of Etiquette]

Darn it!

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

*narrows gaze, once again*

[Rhywun]

If you keep doing that, your face is going to freeze that way.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

I am going to end up looking like Clint Eastwood in a Spaghetti Western.

[Restoras]

I think you forgot a comma.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Fuck their fucking Corporate media, NPR too.

Delicious.

[WTF]

I love that he thinks the media are Republican toadies. How delusional can someone be?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

Not just the media, NPR in particular. That's nuts on a whole new scale.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

And fuck the fuckers who refuse to fucking vote for Democrats.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

You pick the one guy with the name 'Drunken Irishman'?

[Lord Humungus]

needs more fucks.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

You just check out this political cartoon. The artist seems to be drawing half of his politics from 1983.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

just = must

[UnCivilServant]

I don't get the people who think government health inspectors actually make a difference with regards to food poisoning outbreaks. The liability and loss of future business that comes from making your customers sick makes it far cheaper to avoid doing so than to cut corners.

[NebulousFocus]

I don't get people who can't fathom that someone could actually have a different opinion than them. It's insane.

[Frank Frankelson]

This.

For reference, you don't see any Jack In the Box franchises on the east coast, do you? You think that affected their bottom line?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

I just sent my employees home at noon and closed the shop

Now, it's just me and Jim Beam here. Not going home tonight, because I strongly suspect I'll be in one damn rotten mood, and my wife and 3 kids don't need that. DURec for your thread, sir.

[KDN]

Wife- and child-beating because his political party lost an election.

What a model American. He should be the next governor of NJ.

[WTF]

NJ governors are known for beating their wives?

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

NJ governors are known for beating their wives.

Ever since Christie at least.

[KDN]

I'm just looking for a change from the usual criminality.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

KOCHSPIRACY

Voting machines

The Democratic side has almost two years to see what is wrong with the votingmachines How could McConnell, who had to PAY people to pretend to support him, win? Crist was way ahead in the pols, yet lost Forida? Wisconsin's Walker is a dud, yet won re-election as gov? Rauner, who is Romney light, won governorship of Illinois? Something smells wrong, very wrong here. Koch money was put to good use for the repubs, the only question is HOW? The Not-So-Supreme Court should be disbanded, they are useless in helping working class people. I am devastated

[WTF]

HAHAHAHAHA
Their tears are so sweet and yummy!

[The Laconic]

By not voting, I was voting Republican? I might have made an effort if I'd known that rule.

[cavalier973]

Expect the party registration form by the end of the week.

[cavalier973]

The Republican Party had one strategy it followed in nearly every Senate race: run against the president. It paid off. (Next week, the president travels to Burma. Perhaps he should have scheduled the trip eight months ago?and stayed there.)

Too bad they won't actually work to undo the President's agenda.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Republicans performed about as well as possible in the 2014 midterm election yesterday.

Enjoy as they perform as terrible as possible in legislating.

[This Machine Implies Consent]

Ideally, they'd do a bunch of un-legislating, but I'll settle for just not legislating.

Of course, they're not going to leave well enough alone anyway, but I can dream.

[Rhywun]

Even better if they stop some Democrats from legislating.

[Lord Humungus]

or not...

Male Lingerie Is A Thing Now And It's Kind Of Amazing

The HommeMystere company has just launched a new line of lingerie...but there's a definite twist.

[Rich]

Do NOT click that link.

[Idle Hands]

That only made me want to click it more. So I did.

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

That is just cross-dressing.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

There's some real denial going on in those photos

[Juice]

None of that looked like male lingerie. It just looked like a man wearing women's lingerie.

[Citizen Nothing]

The top story on Yahoo News appears to be "How Hillary Clinton Won the 2014 Election."

[Atanarjuat]

Gridlock! Sweet, beautiful gridlock!

Seasoned with the fine tears of an Obama temper tantrum when he can't get his way.

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

We've basically had gridlock for 4 years already, but now BO gets to be the bad guy who kills congressional bills through actively vetoing them, vice having WhoreHouseHarry just quietly sit on them while the sits quietly.

A wholly different kind of gridlock. Now with more yummy tears.

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

while the *media* sits quietly.

[WTF]

Yeah, things may look a little different for Obama without Harry Reid to protect him by shutting down the Senate.

[Pro Libertate]

And with investigations, hearings, and removals from office of administration officials.

[WTF]

removals from office of administration officials

Nah, the Stupid Party doesn't have the balls for that. They will get all "reconciliation for the good of the American people" and "reach across the aisle".

[Pro Libertate]

I agree as far as senior officials go, but they're going to find some pretty nasty dirt in the investigations they do launch. Hard not to take action when those facts come to light.

[Lord Humungus]

God Bless America!

Americans Spend 16 Times as Much on Beer as on 2014 Midterms

Americans spent billions on this year's federal election, enough to spark increased worry about the influence of money in politics.

But when stacked up against what they spend annually on beer, gambling, dry cleaning or hairdressing, it's small in comparison.

[The DerpRider]

I did my part!

[Every Cop is a Criminal]

The cost of dry cleaning is criminal.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Vox seized upon the tweets as evidence of how the father is a liability to the son.

And the 2016 race begins.

[CE]

Yeah, Ron Paul reminds us how much Rand Paul is compromising with the anti-liberty crowd.

[sarcasmic]

'Drop that plate right now': Florida charity worker, 90, is arrested for FEEDING the homeless under new law against sharing food publicly (which presumably includes loaves and fishes)
Arnold Abbott has fed homeless people since 1991 with a team of volunteers
He now says he intends to take the City of Fort Lauderdale to court

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....ublic.html

At one point an officers yelled at Mr Abbott to 'drop that plate right now!' as if it were a loaded weapon.

He's got an assault plate! Shoot him!

[Doctor Whom]

"Without government, who would feed the homeless?"

"Me."

"You're under arrest."

[Palin's Buttplug]

The Rednecks walloped the Hippies! Yaaaayyy! We're saved from the Kenyan Muslin now! Libertopia is upon us!

Glorious gridlock survived for real.

[Restoras]

You're drunk on your own Tears of Sorrow, aren't you Weigel?

[SugarFree]

He's got to have something to hold on to. Boyfriend Barry got all beat up and he has to keep a brave face.

[Jordan]

I came here looking for your tears. Now I can return to work satisfied.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Tears? I am a fucking cynic. I enjoy the goat rodeo political shitfest.

[Restoras]

Step away from that growler filled with your pent-up Tears of Sorrow, shitforbrains.

[antisocial-ist]

*sniffs* smell that, it smells like tears. Tears and DOOOOOM!!!!!

[Jordan]

Yummy yummy tears.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Why me? I am a liberal. If the GOP actually cuts spending (which they won't) I will be happy.

[Lord Humungus]

Liberal? I thought you were the only true free-market libertarian? Please keep your story straight, it makes for better trolling.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Classic liberal. Like Hayek I don't like conservatives.

[Lord Humungus]

I don't think you even know the meaning - since your words certainly don't mirror those of a classic liberal. But if you want to continue to lie to us, have at it.

[WTF]

Well, he's 8% classic liberal.

[The Last American Hero]

Wow. I guess that Obamacare thing was a non issue, huh. Plus, the stock market is at record highs, and we all know stock market equals economy. So....how did your team manage to fuck this election up so badly PB?

[Palin's Buttplug]

I was right again. This election followed recent statistical norms. For example the VA and NC races were almost identical results as when Jim Webb and Richard Burr won their races in those respective states.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

After all, President Obama's personal approval ratings are also in the toilet, and his signature policy?the Affordable Care Act?continues to evoke a mass gag reflex from the public and was specifically cited as a negative by almost half of voters in this election.

J.D. Tuccille|November 5, 2014 1:24 am

[Palin's Buttplug]

Look at the numbers. Right in line with recent patterns.

[Mike M.]

Damn, you're still alive.

Also, you're the world's worst liar. You love Obamacare, the Crapulus, and all the other shit that passes when the democrats have total control.

In the last month you got fired from the Washington Post for good, had to take a job with Bloomberg Politics which absolutely nobody reads, and now your beloved democrats got their asses kicked. We can only imagine how depressed you must be. It's not too late for you to kill yourself.

[a better weapon]

Just make sure not to do it by stepping in front of a bus. We don't want any little Weigel's running around here too.

[Tonio]

Oh, that's delicious, 'Plug. C'mon and cry enough so everyone can have a taste.

[Elspeth Flashman]

Don't lock eyes with 'em, don't do it. Puts 'em on edge. They might go into berzerker mode; come at you like a whirling dervish, all fists and elbows. You might be screaming "No, no, no" and all they hear is "Who wants cake?" Let me tell you something: They all do. They all want cake.

[a better weapon]

I think even Tarran could excuse the mocking responses to PB on a day like today.

[sarcasmic]

Kim Jong-Un 'photobombed by soft toys having sex' while visiting North Korean orphanage
Kim Jong-Un was photographed during a visit to a Pyongyang orphanage
Two soft toys were placed in a compromising position during Kim's visit
It was the first time Kim had been pictured walking unaided since September
The dictator had been using a cane while recovering from ankle surgery
Kim went missing for six weeks prompting claims that he had been deposed

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....anage.html
I bet someone got executed for that little embarrassment.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

Or was turned into a "comfort girl".

[Certified Public Asskicker]

'Painfully Awkward' Rob Lowe Commercial Under Fire From Shy Bladder Support Group

The spot above centers around "Painfully Awkward Rob Lowe," a fanny-pack wearing version of the actor who says he can't "go" with other people around. But the International Paruresis Association says shy bladder is a real phobia, not something to mock.

"We don't mind if people have a little fun with it," Steve Soifer, the organization's CEO, told The Associated Press. "It's a situation that a lot of people don't understand. In this particular case, the portrayal is making it look ridiculous, that this guy is a loser for having a problem."

The organization says 21 million Americans suffer from the condition, which is more formally known as avoidant paruresis.

[Restoras]

Jeez, cut the guy a break. That's his best work since the pron video.

[SugarFree]

"There are literally dozens of us!"

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Yeah, I'm not buying the 21 million figure.

[Pope Jimbo]

The next Lowe commercial should really be Rob Lowe vs Nevernude Rob Lowe.

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

Rob vs. Tourette's Rob?

[Rich]

"And I have cable. Bullshit! Fuck!"

[Steve G]

We don't mind if people have a little fun with it

So it's settled then, now kindly fuck off

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

which is more formally commonly known as avoidant paruresis stage fright.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

"bashful kidney"

[Idle Hands]

I always aim for center mass, it makes the most noise and asserts my alpha dominance.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Are you one of those guys that seems to stand at the urinal longer than necessary, as if to say "yeah, I held ALL THAT in."

[Idle Hands]

No, But I am the guy that stands impossibly far away from the urinal to piss.

[UnCivilServant]

So that's why the floor is always a mess.

[Idle Hands]

Heh I lift the seat man. I'm not an animal.

[SugarFree]

I find myself doing the Superman pose at a urinal. It's very satisfying.

[Idle Hands]

is that like a where you do a fully extended hand stand to simulate flying and piss upside down. I hear the ladies love it.

[SugarFree]

Well, the women in the men's bathroom love it. I'm not sure that extends to all ladies.

[Zeb]

shy bladder is a real phobia, not something to mock

Why not both?

[Trigger Warning]

Because FEELZ.

[EDG reppin' LBC]

"We don't mind if people have a little fun with it,"

BUT STOP HAVING A LITTLE FUN WITH IT!!!!

[Juice]

Why is it a "problem" to not want to pee while other people are standing around you? It doesn't seem like any kind of malfunction to me.

[sarcasmic]

Bloody 'goat heads' are mysteriously found hanging from a New York City street light
WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES
What appeared to be skinned goat heads were spotted dangling on a street lamp in Park Slope
They were removed a few hours later by an employee at Continental Car Service nearby
'Maybe it's some of those wackos who go for Santeria or voodoo,' said local resident Louis Katenzakes
Severed animal heads found in Prospect Park in 2010 were linked to Santeria

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....light.html
Goat's head soup anyone?

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

Is voudou a hipster thing now (thus the hipster spelling)?

[a better weapon]

Some stupid hipster will chime in shortly that this is supposed to be se edgy form of art, sure

[Fist of Etiquette]

Even blue states like Illinois, Maryland, and Massachusetts went to the Republicans.

Why would they want them?

[Injun, as in from India]

They never wanted them. It was Citizens United and EVUL koch money.

[Zeb]

Because they are opportunistic politicians?

Mass. has republican governors fairly often, which is kind of interesting.

[KDN]

So does NJ. We like to alternate somewhat competent Republicans with completely disastrous Democrats. I wonder what cataclysm will be inflicted on us in 2018 when Menendez's latest pick reclaims the yoke.

[gaijin]

My fav cover so far...

Emperor has no clothes

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

Something tells me thats a pretty accurate depiction of his upper body, less the amount of chest hair.

I suspect waxing is a wookie fetish.

[sarcasmic]

That's some freak show! Bella Thorne dons lacy bikini while Sarah Hyland handles a six foot boa constrictor at costume party

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....party.html
Youth is wasted on the young.

[Idle Hands]

Rumor Willis looks like Bruce decided to cross dress.

[Redmanfms]

All of the Willis girls are, shall we say, unfortunate in the looks department.

And Sarah Hyland looks like a retarded, totally not hot anime character.

[Restoras]

Holy crap. I'll be in my bunk, you bastard.

[Lord Humungus]

this really cheers me up:

McCain could shake up U.S. defense in powerful new Senate role

McCain, a former Navy pilot and Vietnam War prisoner who lost to Obama in the 2008 election, has also criticized the administration on everything from fighting Islamic State militants to arming moderate Syrian rebels, while seeking a tougher U.S. response to Russian aggression in Ukraine. As committee chairman he could summon Pentagon officials to public hearings to explain their strategy on Syria.

He has challenged the U.S. Air Force to end a monopoly rocket launch program with Lockheed and Boeing Co, the Pentagon's top two suppliers, and is pushing for development of a new U.S. rocket engine to end reliance on Russian-built engines that power one of the firm's rockets.

[UnCivilServant]

They should take a clue from regular givernment employment. When a guy is too senile to be useful and refuses to retire, you stick them in the corner with no authority and no responsibilities to limit the damage they can do (it's an adaptation over the fact that we can't actually fire people)

[This Machine Implies Consent]

+1 "Promoted outta the job"

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

I took over a military position and had one of those guys. The entire organization was readying to move and he was going to retire.

To be safe I sat down with him and investigated what he did. I found out 90% of it was make work, but there was a small part that two other organizations were completely dependent on, and was done using processes that he was the only one left who understood how they worked (old mainframe bullshit written in heiroglyphics).

Good news for me was I was able to pass those processes to the two other orgs and make his old ass feel useful one last time. He got to travel for a little while.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

Good on ya. One year off your time in Purgatory!

[Ted S.]

You mean he's resigning his Senate seat to go fight ISIS?

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

"Here you go Senator, your own A-10!"

[Restoras]

One of the coolest planes ever made.

[trshmnster the terrible]

"my friends! Have some hot lead courtesy of Johnny boy! *growing evil laugh as he flies off into the sunset*"

[Sal Paradise]

If you fight ISIS, you will be entering a Zone of Danger.

[B.P.]

"You all can go to hell! I'm going to, um, where are these assholes based again?"

[Atanarjuat]

He has challenged the U.S. Air Force to end a monopoly rocket launch program with Lockheed and Boeing Co, the Pentagon's top two suppliers, and is pushing for development of a new U.S. rocket engine to end reliance on Russian-built engines that power one of the firm's rockets.

I guess Elon Musk's check cleared.

[WTF]

As committee chairman he could summon Pentagon officials to public hearings to explain their strategy on Syria.

"Well, Senator, our strategy is to carry out the orders of the Commander in Chief. Which is what we have been doing."

[SugarFree]

Yummy Tears: Salon Edition

The American republic didn't end this week because conservative Republicans captured the Senate. Conservative Republicans captured the Senate because the republic has been ending, as liberal Democrats and libertarian Republicans surf four predatory new asymmetries in our national life ? in security, in speech, in investment, and in consumer marketing. These immense imbalances of power are submerging the elections, delegitimizing the liberal capitalist republic that promised to give security, speech, investment, and marketing deeply different meanings and consequences than the ones they've acquired.

Nothing less than a transformation of American citizenship worthy of Nathan Hale, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. (who learned a lot from Gandhi), Vaclav Havel, and, yes, Edward Snowden can free us from yet another spectacle of politicians who look like pinheads dancing on pins' heads.

[Atanarjuat]

I refuse to give them page clicks, but from that excerpt it seems they're saying something positive about libertarian Republicans.

[Zeb]

It seems that way. But I'm still not too sure what they are trying to say.

How does one "surf predatory new asymmetries"?

[Tonio]

something positive about libertarian Republicans

Sure they are, Atty, because it doesn't cost them anything to give us a throw-away compliment. Real love means saying it with policy.

[SugarFree]

The only good thing you are missing is that in the best picture of Squaw Warren they could find to run, she looks like she just realized that she sharted in her spanx.

[Doctor Whom]

Let us proclaim the mystery of progressive faith: No one could ever have a principled reason for disagreeing with us.

[Tonio]

^This, but not just them.

[Pro Libertate]

Gandhi was an American?

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

Vaclav Havel too?

[Pro Libertate]

I decided to go with the one most obviously not American. Havel is at least European.

Gandhi was also a lawyer. Like Jesus.

[The Laconic]

Um.... what?

[Rhywun]

Submit to our predatory consumer marketing, weaklings!

[Lord Humungus]

November 4, 2014: The Red Election

The 2008 and 2012 election results revealed an Obama coalition, not a Democratic coalition. The Democrats' "coalition of the ascendant" ? African-Americans, Hispanics, young voters, unmarried women ? will NOT show up for just any Democrat. We saw this in 2009 and 2010, and then the Democrats went back to the lab and revised their get-out-the-vote tactics and terrified the heck out of Republicans.

The big story in the 2012 post-mortems was the Democrats' fascinatingly ruthless micro-targeting, data-driven messaging and get-out-the-vote effort that changed the makeup of the electorate on Election Day from what Republicans expected. It was a nightmare scenario for the GOP; the opposition appeared to have effectively figured out a way to manufacture more voters when they needed them.

[The Last American Hero]

So are they saying minorities are racists?

[Lord Humungus]

It is all still about race: Obama hatred, the South and the truth about GOP wins

What all the above boils down to is that blaming blacks for being poor remains broadly popular in America today, and that taking note of continued discrimination is not. A modest majority of Democrats outside the white South disagree, and this creates a political fault line that Republicans have repeatedly exploited across the decades, with no end in sight. When conservatives get too crude ? as was the case with Cliven Bundy, for example ? this threatens to upset the apple cart, and appearances must quickly get restored. But it's the crudity, not the underlying attitude of blaming blacks, that has fallen out of favor. This would hardly surprise a Southern gentleman of this or any other century. It's just the way things are supposed to be. Always have been. Why ever change?

[SugarFree]

This is why Lexington, a town that was a locus of slave trading, had a mayoral race between a black guy and an open gay white guy and nary a peep or rumble was heard about it.

[John]

And that is why South Carolina re-elected a East Indian Governor and elected a black man senator. It is all of that Southern racism. Its also way Maryland wouldn't elect a black man governor. Its just the racism man. All of those Monkey County liberals just can't handle supporting a powerful black man.

[Trigger Warning]

So much what John said.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

And that is why South Carolina re-elected a East Indian Governor

A woman no less!

[Injun, as in from India]

No she's not a woman. A woman becoming a Republican is as good as a sex change operation.

[widget]

...a[n] East Indian Governor...

If you follow UK politics at all these people are called Asians. Asians are from the land mass to the right of Albania on your atlas.

[seguin]

To the right of Albania? I wonder if the Serbs and Bulgarians know they're Asian.

[Lord at War]

You missed 97% white Mormon Utah electing Mia Love.

[Restoras]

Cripple fight?

[SugarFree]

No, they are both pretty popular. Gray (the gay one who is a semi-closeted libertarian) was the first mayor to be reelected since the 90s, and Beatty was our former police chief who ran on a law and order (ie more cops) ticket.

[robc]

first mayor to be reelected since the 90s

Weird. In Louisville we elected Abramson Mayor-for-life twice.

"We" meaning not-me, of course.

[SugarFree]

We hate our mayors. It's one of the best things about us.

Especially this vile asshole. If Issacs runs for anything state-wide, figure out how you can vote against her more than once.

[Pro Libertate]

The crying wolf shit is finally seeming to not work. Which is amazing, since it's been almost 100% false alarms for decades now.

[WTF]

So if the racism card is no longer effective, they just have to play it harder? Okay.

[Restoras]

This is the kind of denial that prompted the invention of Viagra.

[Bones]

Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin all saw Republicans defeat Democrats because the South hates Obama. That makes perfect sense!

[Lord Humungus]

The system is broken: How the midterms expose our dying democracy

So it's not the millions of Americans who are conservative that have me worried, it's the millions who aren't conservative but decided in 2010, and once again today, that they either wouldn't or couldn't manage to show up. If most Americans thought things were hunky-dory, this would be disappointing (people really did die for this, after all) but not truly alarming. Yet the reality, of course, is quite the opposite; most Americans think things are going terribly and that the bad times will just keep coming. All the same, a countless number have decided ? tragically but not necessarily unreasonably ? that voting for something better is either impossible or in vain.

In the last best hope of the human race, in our shining city upon a hill, the inheritors of government of the people, by the people and for the people have surveyed their options. They've decided to give up.

[Tonio]

Oh, that is sooooo delicious.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

*burp!*

No more! You can finish those tears, Tonio. I am full.

[trshmnster the terrible]

Moar! Moar tears! They're so salty and good! I must have Moar tears!

[Restoras]

It's only a democracy when I get what I want and everyone thinks the same way.

Pathetic.

[Pro Libertate]

There's pretty good data showing that Romney would have won if Republicans hadn't had a low turnout in 2012. So how does that jibe with this logic?

The shining city on the hill was about the free society we had. Not about the authoritarian socialism advocated by the Democrats these days.

I'd like to take from this election that American antithesis to government and common sense isn't totally dead yet, but I don't think that's likely.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

How can you make a city shiny without legions of laborers being conscripted to polish the buildings?

[Pro Libertate]

Not conscripted. Paid. That's the problem here--we're not fucking rich enough.

[Juice]

They don't show up to vote because you suck.

[Sal Paradise]

Democracy only dies when Team Blue loses.

[CE]

...the people have surveyed their options. They've decided to give up.

So there is still hope for rationality making a comeback.

[Libertarian]

Racism on the editorial page of the NY Times today:

Should Black Voters Keep Their Faith in Obama?
By DARRYL PINCKNEY
President Obama may be a flawed politician, but he has guided the nation through troubled waters. Black voters should resist alienation.

[John]

Resist wondering why Obama waited six years to take even modest steps against the drug war or why the first Black president has barely pardoned anyone despite the fact that there are tens of thousands of black people serving grossly unjust federal prison sentences. Blacks should also ignore Obama's pending amnesty even though blacks as a group will be hurt more economically than any other by the action. And blacks should just ignore that they are in every measurable way worse off after six years of Obama than they were after eight years of Bush. None of that matters. All that matters is stopping the Republicans from bringing back slavery.

[Pro Libertate]

How any black thinks the Democrats are doing anything but trying to keep them permanently in underclass status is beyond me. If I were black, I wouldn't vote for a Democrat if he were related to me.

[John]

If you can't stomach voting Republican, start your own third party. But do anything but vote for that shit.

[Pro Libertate]

Seriously. I can't imagine voting for people who do the things the Democrats do and say the things they say. If there's a more racist mainstream organization in America, fuck if I know what it is.

[ChrisO]

In this case, I think a lot of it is tied to local politics. Urban Democrats are a giant patronage machine. The previous D.C. mayoral election swung on the fact that Adrian Fenty was willing to fire everyone's useless cousin from their patronage job with the school system, and Fenty paid for that, even though the schools were demonstrably better at the end of his term.

[WTF]

Shorter NYT: "Stay on the fucking plantation!"

[The Laconic]

Well, whatever they do, they should all think and vote the same way. They have similar skin color, after all.

[MJGreen]

Why does it matter? They can't vote for Obama again.

[John]

There is a lot of debate on here about how the free shit candidate will forever win. Maryland last night proved that maybe people can learn. Brown was a black liberal Democrat who ran for governor entirely on a free shit campaign. His whole campaign was nothing but "don't you want the first black governor" and "universal Pre K and ore free shit for everyone". If ever there was a state outside of California where such a campaign would work, it is Maryland. And he lost and lost pretty convincingly. I can't believe it. I don't know much about the guy that beat him and I doubt he is much of a small government guy. Whatever he is there is no way he was half the free shit candidate Brown was and there was no reason anyone who votes on free shit would have voted for anyone but Brown. And Brown still lost.

If the people have Maryland can figure out that at some point more taxes and more free shit isn't the answer, there might be hope for humanity, because I never would have guessed they would.

[robc]

Free shit voters only vote every four years.

[John]

That is not true. Libertarians are foolish if they think everyone or the majority of people who vote Democrat are just bums wanting free shit. Most people who vote still work in this country. And many people who don't work would like to. It is not that simple.

Hard working and responsible people vote Democrat because they have convinced themselves that giving away free shit won't hurt them personally and voting to do so makes them a good person who cares about the country and the less fortunate. That is why free shit candidates win not because all Americans except Libertarians are bums.

[robc]

I dont disagree...those people still showed up and voted for the Ds.

Its not like the Democrats were getting 20% of the vote or something, they just lost their edge in close races.

[John]

The Maryland results prove there is a limit to that. At some point things get bad enough that people start to realize that giving away all of that free shit isn't so free.

[Restoras]

But what about the Maryland legislature - any Team Red pickups there? It's one thing to vote for a figurehead out of frustration, but another to follow through on where the real power lies.

[TwB]

Not many that I am aware of. The MD legislature will still be very Blue so Larry Hogan has his work cut out for him. That being said, congrats to MD for shocking the hell out of me yesterday.

[Steve G]

"don't you want the first black governor"

I still can't believe the, uh shall we say 'audacity' of the first lady in those radio ads pimping for Brown purely on "making history".

[John]

If liberal black candidate can't win in Maryland, the race card is officially maxed out.

[WTF]

Why not, it worked for her husband.

[Steve G]

Fool me once?

[RG]

Yep, these results give me pause about my opinions yesterday.

I still think if the economy weren't so lousy, and this weren't a midterm, that the FSA and idendity politics may have played better.

Or Americans are simply tired of this nonsense.

[John]

If the economy were better, Brown would have won. The lesson of that is that people who vote for free shit don't vote for it because they want free shit. They vote for it because they don't think it will cost them anything and doing so makes them feel like they are doing good.

[RG]

I hope you are right, although I believe there's a sizable subsection who do truly want free stuff.

[John]

There are. But there is never enough free shit to go around. So even those people get mad and stay home at some point.

[TwB]

I also want to throw this random opinion out there: Do you also think that some folks in Maryland took a look at Anthony Brown, read about his policy ideas and thought to themselves "Well shit, he looks and acts like a short Obama" and that swayed their vote? I imagine that did in fact happen a few times yesterday.

[John]

I think there was some of that. People have had it with inexperienced black politicians running on "making history".

[Juice]

But he wasn't inexperienced. He was in the statehouse and he was Lt. Gov.

[John]

Okay.

[Pro Libertate]

I think the economy is finally getting to people, though that should've been the case in 2012. But I also think the practice of trying to culture war everything is getting a little tiresome, and I suspect it only works now (in most cases) with true believers.

[Juice]

The campaign ads went like this: "Vote for me and get 'free' shit. Never mind about what it costs. That other guy won't give you free shit like I will. Can you even believe that he would be against giving you free shit?"

vs.

"The other guy wants to raise taxes EVEN MORE. Are you tired of that shit yet? Vote for me and I'll stop raising taxes and created new ones."

[ChrisO]

The reality is that, for whatever reason, O'Malley actually raised some of the taxes necessary to pay for all that "free shit." Suburban liberals want lots of free shit to be spread around, but they don't to pay the taxes to support it.

Hogan might be able to get tax reductions through the legislature, but good luck getting rid of the welfare and nanny state crapola.

[CE]

The campaign ads here in California went like this: "Candidate A voted against equal pay for women! He voted against raising the minimum wage! He even voted to deny women access to birth control! Protect women and minorities -- vote for Candidate B!"

And it worked.

[MJGreen]

I recall in 2012 Bryan Caplan and others making pretty good arguments that "free shit" is not a common motive. People do generally vote their feelings, not what is perceived to be in their narrow self-interest.

[Lord Humungus]

Christian church offering beer to congregation during service

Last weekend, East Side Christian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, invited the public for "Beer and Hymns", and its a decision thats turning heads.

First Christian Church member Michael Riggs said the event was designed to be an outreach event.

The church is one of four and a local seminary which hosted Portland author Christian Piatt. "It's a chance to reach a wide demographic of people to ask the questions of what's happening in our Christian world, what's happening in our churches, and what's happening in our community," Riggs said.

[John]

The Disciples of Christ are one of the better protestant denominations. They manage to not be a social club that meets to worship government while also not being holy rollers.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

When my Grandfather was starting his family out in Holstein, Iowa back in the 1930s, after a service at the United Methodist church, a friend loudly asked him if he wanted to come over for a beer afterward....SCANDALOUS!
Fast forward to a month ago, I am sitting in a new tap room, not far from home, and in comes the entire Mission Committee from my United Methodist church and orders two flights of samples to see which beers they want to concentrate on...

[MJGreen]

That was the most scandalous thing about the German horde in the 19th century: they'd go to church and then drink beer for the rest of Sunday.

Mencken was right about Puritans.

[CE]

Beer on election day is a long standing American tradition:

http://www.usnews.com/news/blo.....with-booze

...the father of the nation lost his first campaign in 1755 to the House of Burgesses largely because he didn't put on an alcohol-laden circus at the polls. That year, Washington got 40 votes. The winner, who plied voters with beer, whiskey, rum punch, and wine, got 271 votes.

A quick learner, Washington won three years later with the help of alcohol. "What do you know, he was successful and got 331 votes

[Rufus J. Firefly]

Heard Crowley on CNN say about Scott Brown 'but he's not even from there!'

No one said a word responding to the fact plenty of people are elected to places their not originally from.

Sure she didn't try to fuck over Romney. Sure.

Stephanopoulos just did it too.

http://bit.ly/1uvD50T

Such professionalism.

[Raven Nation]

I'm pretty sure they were all over Hilary representing NY in 2000, right?

[Ted S.]

Hillary Clinton has always been from New York.

[Rich]

Well, she *is* half-Jewish.

[widget]

She's half-Jewish, half-Arkanasan, half-married, and half-witted too.

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

But she's not part faux-indian, so maybe she needs to work on that.

[John]

In fairness, I am sure Crowley though the same when Hillary Clinton ran for Senate in New York.

How did Crowley get her job? I understand that she is a mindless Democratic Hack. But it is a TV job and she is homely and fat and not known to be a lesbian. I thought you had to be gay or hot to get on TV partisan hackery or not.

[Idle Hands]

She has pictures, that can be mailed at anytime.

[John]

She must. She is just an unpleasant looking woman.

[Idle Hands]

Also the sarlac pit.

[Atlas Slugged]

That's Sarlacc Pit.

/pedantic fanboy

[Brian D]

She probably also didn't mention Jeanne Shaheen was born in Missouri, was schooled in Pennsylvania, and didn't move to NH until her mid-20s.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Yes, but come on, Brown was much more recent

[Fluffy]

Hillary Clinton's mail hadn't caught up to her in NY before she ran for Senate there.

I'm sure Crowley can provide us with a highlight film reel of all the times she accused Hillary of being a carpetbagger.

[Zeb]

It would be interesting to see how many office holders are natives of the state that elected them. I bet it's a pretty low number.
I think that the criticism of Brown for being an opportunist carpetbagger is somewhat legitimate. Though if I had any interest in voting for him, that wouldn't affect my vote.

[Raven Nation]

I think that the criticism of Brown for being an opportunist carpetbagger is somewhat legitimate.

Agree; but I think the comments are upthread are mostly, again, about the media double-standard.

[Steve G]

Was discussing this with a coworker this morning. I'm amazed that out-of-state candidates aren't laughed out of the room everytime.

[Pope Jimbo]

I wish it were so. Our senator Al Franken was born and raised here. Then moved away for decades.

He only moved back to Sunny Minnesoda a year before his first run. Now we have elected him twice.

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

Yeah, what the fuck is wrong with Minnesota?

[WTF]

Aw, jeez!

[trshmnster the terrible]

Dontcha know!

[Steve G]

Franken is at least explainable. I've been out of my home state for 2 decades, but one would hope I'd still be considered an Oregonian by prospective voters..esp since it was for military service.
But it's these freakin career politicians that literally shop around for positions to run for that just boggle the mind.

[DEG]

Unrelated to the election, a heart warming story about a journalist that made life miserable for the Stasi.

[End Child Unemployment]

I 594 passed in Washington 60/40
http://results.vote.wa.gov/res.....s-All.html
Want to go target shooting with a friend and let him shoot your gun? Think twice, you'd both be felons!

[John]

So you are telling me that 60% of Washington voters are functionally retarded and incapable of basic reasoning. Well that is not encouraging.

[WTF]

So you are telling me that 60% of Washington voters are functionally retarded and incapable of basic reasoning.

Well, it seems to have been dishonestly presented as just requiring background checks for 'transfers' of firearms, with being specific as to the actual content of the law.

[WTF]

without being specific

[The Last American Hero]

The State of Washington just had a school shooting about a week ago. This tends to create a lot of "do something" support for proposals like this.

[Zeb]

Want to go target shooting with a friend and let him shoot your gun? Think twice, you'd both be felons!

That doesn't seem to be true. A little exploring at the link you provide indicates that there are specific exceptions for temporary transfers at shooting ranges, or to minors for hunting or target shooting or education as well as many transfers among family members.

It's still a terrible law, but not quite that bad. Of course most people will ignore it.

[End Child Unemployment]

Zeb I'm no lawyer, but I believe it is true. Here is a cutout from a wall o text I put up on the bookface:

I demonstrated to my father in law, in his house, the proper handling and operation of a firearm I had that we were going to a range to shoot. Did we violate 594?

Section 2, item 25: "Transfer" means the intended delivery of a firearm to
another person without consideration of payment or promise of payment
including, but not limited to, gifts and loans. (page 6, at the bottom)
RCW 9.41 (governing crimes related to firearms) does not have a definition of delivery I could locate, but under 18.64.011 (controlled substances) it is defined as:
"Deliver" or "delivery" means the actual, constructive, or attempted transfer from one person to another of a drug or device, whether or not there is an agency relationship.
By handing the firearm from myself to another person, I would have completed actual delivery under this definition.

[End Child Unemployment]

Section 3, item 4 (a) and 4(f) (ii). This section describes exceptions to the general requirement of every sale or transfer requiring a background check and FFL transfer to be completed before the sale or transfer.
4 (a):
A transfer between immediate family members, which for this
subsection shall be limited to spouses, domestic partners, parents,
children, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, nieces, nephews,
first cousins, aunts, and uncles, that is a bona fide gift;
This exception is not applicable because the transfer was a temporary transfer, not a gift, and a father in law is not included in the definition of immediate family.
4 (f) (ii):
if the temporary transfer occurs, and the
firearm is kept at all times, at an established shooting range
authorized by the governing body of the jurisdiction in which such
range is located;
This exception is not applicable because the temporary transfer for instruction occurred in the home, not at the range. Furthermore, the firearms are not kept at all times at the established shooting range, because they are my personal firearms.
The exceptions outlined under Section 3 (4) begin in the middle of page 8 and go through the middle of page 9.
Section 9 describes the classification of violations of the proposed law:
Notwithstanding the penalty provisions in this chapter, any person
knowingly violating section 3 of this act is guilty of a gross
misdemeanor punishable under chapter 9A.20 RCW

[Zeb]

I just read the summary here. . Maybe it isn't completely accurate. Probably have to wait and see what courts make of it.

I'm no lawyer either and I'm not even going to try to make sense of the actual text of the law right now.

In any case, it sucks.

[End Child Unemployment]

From a plain text standpoint, the initiative clearly states any transfer, permanent or temporary, must have a background check. The only exceptions are:
-Bona fide gifts to family.
-Antique firearms
-Transfers between a law enforcement agency and an LEO, but only while the LEO is acting in his professional capacity as an LEO.
-Transfers to and from federally licensed gunsmiths for servicing or repairing firearms.
-Temporary transfers:
To prevent the imminent death of the person transferred to.
Between spouses or domestic partners
At the shooting range, if the transfer occurs at the range and the firearm is kept there at all times, and the range is established by the governing body of the jurisdiction the range is located in.
At a lawfully organized firearms competition (transfer must occur only at the competition and)
To a person under 18 for hunting, sporting, or educational purposes while under direct adult supervision
While hunting, as long as the hunting is legal in the location it is performed and the recipient of the firearm holds all required licenses and training for such hunting.

They basically created as many gotchas and requirements as they could for the temporary transfer stuff. The firing range one especially is very restrictive - basically shooting friend's guns at the range or them shooting yours is outlawed now.

[End Child Unemployment]

. If a person
previously has been found guilty under this section, then the person
is guilty of a class C felony punishable under chapter 9A.20 RCW for
each subsequent knowing violation of section 3 of this act.
See the top of page 15 for this section. There were two subsequent transfers, and I am aware of the existence of the proposed law, so the violations would have been knowing. The first would be a gross misdemeanor, the second a class C felony. As a reminder, a convicted felon loses the right to vote or own firearms for the rest of their life. It will also be next to impossible for them to find employment.
Here is a link to the text of the initiative:
http://sos.wa.gov/_assets/elec.....xt_483.pdf

There are some other exceptions, but none that would work for the common scenario of "guy wants to demonstrate how to work a gun to friend he's target shooting with".

[Lord Humungus]

Battle for the Senate: How the GOP did it

While Republicans were moving to address their problems, Democrats were trying to overcome problems of their own ? including difficulties with a White House suspicious of their leadership and protective of the president's reputation, his political network and his biggest donors.

After years of tension between President Obama and his former Senate colleagues, trust between Democrats at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue had eroded. A fight between the White House and Senate Democrats over a relatively small sum of money had mushroomed into a major confrontation.

At a March 4 Oval Office meeting, Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) and other Senate leaders pleaded with Obama to transfer millions in party funds and to also help raise money for an outside group. "We were never going to get on the same page," said David Krone, Reid's chief of staff. "We were beating our heads against the wall."

[Rich]

What part of "No Photography" don't you understand?

[Juice]

I don't get why any westerner goes to the Middle East at all. The only reason I could see is to make fucktons of money and then bring it back to the west.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

I don't think the results could be more pleasing for me. The Dems and Obama were finally rebuked, marijuana legalization advances (and in a Red state now too) and personhood amendments turned back.

[DRM]

Fucking minimum wage initiatives all passed.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Unfortunate, but the fact that Dems were defeated where they were passed makes me hope in the future Dems won't push them under the idea they will bring Dem voters to the polls.

[Raven Nation]

Yeah, go figure. In NE, R governor & senate candidates got 60% of the vote...which is the same percentage of the vote that raising the min wage got.

[DeOppressoLiber]

I find it rather interesting that Salon, so-called lefty rag, has no mention of pot being legalized on their front page. I thought liberals were all about personal choice and ending the drug war?

[Raven Nation]

Libertarian and independent candidates had a "meh" election, however.

Libertarian in NE-2 got 5+% of the vote which looks like it will be about double the margin by which the incumbent R lost.

Libertarian in NE governor race got 3.5%.

NE SecState where there were only 2 candidates (R & L), Libertarian got 24+%.

[robc]

Answering my question from upthread, it looks like the previous record for the LP in a KY Senate race was 1.3% in 1992. So breaking 3% is a huge result.

[Raven Nation]

Yeah, there are some trends. The guy in NE-2 has always been the "not Democrat" but even held his seat in 2008. However, he supported the NDAA earlier this year and a lot of people went ape-shit over that. Many posted their dissatisfaction on his FB and his staff then wiped all the comments. He barely survived a four-way primary.

The D is a local "lifer" politician so is no better. But, with the R majority in Congress he can't do much damage.

[Pro Libertate]

Wyllie didn't quite crack 4%, but in a big state like Florida, that means nearly a quarter million votes. That's significant.

I'm starting to think the LP--which does some of this already--should go whole hog and run on not being the Democrats or Republicans. They have, by far, the best ballot access of any third party.

[Trigger Warning]

The Stupid Party is going to be blamed for everything and anything until 2016. If they weren't the stupid party, they'd stop celebrating and concentrate on how to not fuck up between now and then, but they're not called the Stupid Party for no reason. We're in for two years of dick-waving and Rachel Maddow telling her drones that Obesus can't do anything good for them because the ol'meanie Republicans won't let Him. Unless he wants to drop some bombs. They'll get behind that.

[John]

So the stupid party is going to be blamed for all of the unpopular shit that Obama is going to do by executive order between now and 2016?

That is going to be a pretty good trick.

[Trigger Warning]

Well, if the president continues to act unilaterally, all that has to happen is for Republicans to speak against it, and PRESTO! they are obstructionist meanies, who are mean and stuff and don't want the President to be able to help anybody, because KORPARASHUNZ. You know the drill.

[John]

You are only an "obstructionist" if you are speaking against something that is popular. And the things Obama is going to do are not popular. If they were, the Republicans would be happily selling out and helping him do them.

[Auric Demonocles]

They were obstructionists with Obamacare, and that pile of shit is and always has been unpopular.

[John]

And as a result they ended up retaking the House in 2010. Being obstructionists for Obamacare is the smartest thing they ever did. If they had sold out, the Democrats would still own the Congress.

I don't understand you people. It is one thing to figure that the Republicans are going to sell out and put in their own brand of big government. That is a reasonable guess based in past performance. It is quite another to think that Republicans are going to be unpopular for opposing Democratic policies the day after the Democrats just suffered a enormous election defeat because those policies are so unpopular. That is just nonsense.

The Democrats have done what socialists always do, gotten in power and implemented their policies only to see them fail and the public hate them. This is what always happens. The only way socialists ever stay in power is if they are able to get so much power that they can fix elections and crush dissent such that it doesn't matter that the public hates them. Indeed, this is what Obama tried to do but couldn't thanks to Citizens' United.

[Auric Demonocles]

When did I say that it was unpopular for them to oppose Obamacare, or that the public would buy the Dems' upcoming spin?

[John]

Sorry AD. I misunderstood you.

[TwB]

Exactly

[Trigger Warning]

John, all I said was that Republicans will be portrayed as eeeeevvvviiillll for opposing anything the president does. That's just status quo. Two continuous years of Republican control of Congress just ensures that narrative sticks all the better. And yes, the Republicans are going to be unpopular for opposing Democrat policies among people who vote Democrat, many of whom are low-info FEELZ voters who will unhesitatingly pull a lever for Hillary because TEAM, and who are more likely to turn out for another "historic" presidential election than a midterm.

[John]

Trigger Warning,

Not everyone who voted for Obama even in 2012 was a partisan Democrat or a bum looking for free shit. I don't understand why you guys all think that.

[The Last American Hero]

Which is no different than if Team Blue held the Senate.

[CE]

They're both Nationalist and Socialist parties. And you know who else was from a Nationalist Socialist party?

[Mike M.]

America now faces her most dangerous two years in the last 150 years.

There's a guy who truly understand our vile president, but I would modify that to say the most dangerous two years since the height of the Cold War.

[SugarFree]

Yummy Tears: Jezebel Legitimate Edition

This is the first time I've actually been so upset that I legitimately cried. I knew it could happen but it always somehow surprises me how people constantly vote against their own interests and are stupid enough to buy into what the GOP sells them.

Or you could take a step back and seriously look at your life for once.

[Trigger Warning]

The first time she "legitimately" shed tears in her life was over goddam politics? Not art, not love, not laughter, not joy, not grief or loss, but fucking politics?

SF, a person like has no life to examine. They are puppets with a hand connecting their asses to their mouths.

[SugarFree]

Sadness is so elusive, you guys!

[Trigger Warning]

Truly, it is scarce in this world.

[lap83]

This is what I was going to say. Does she not have a soul? Perhaps this isn't the first time she's cried, just the first time it came from genuine emotion and not just manipulation. Sociopath, perhaps.

[Idle Hands]

I feel.

[a better weapon]

for a variety of reasons (newborn, cutting cable, writing my first novel, and moving to a new area without knowledge of local politics) this was the first election cycle I was mostly tuned out of and didn't participate in.

the tears might make me come back for healthier doses though. This morning's links are gold!

[Idle Hands]

She's not a true feminist if she doesn't cry for rape.

[Ted S.]

So all the other times you've cried in Jezebel, it's been illegitimate?

[UnCivilServant]

Those were bastard tears.

[Libertarian]

Nothing gets my blood boiling faster than the meme that republican voters vote against their own best interests. ARGH!!

[Raven Nation]

I hope you have never read, nor plan to read, What's the Matter With Kansas?

[Libertarian]

Funny story: when that book first came out, I assumed the title was ironic and the book was written by a conservative. Rest easy, I'll never read it.

[Raven Nation]

I was living in KS at the time and read the summary of it and couldn't figure out how someone could be so lacking in self-awareness. Of course, my academic friends loved it as it confirmed their view that anyone who doesn't vote D is either stupid or has been tricked, or both.

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

^^This

[F. Stupidity, Jr.]

Nothing gets my blood boiling faster than the meme that republican voters vote against their own best interests. ARGH!!

I'm always super-impressed at how well they know what my interests are.

[Zeb]

I say it below, but I'll repeat myself.

These same people always say that Republicans are just serving the interests of the rich. So do they go around telling rich liberals that they are idiots for voting against their own interests when they vote Democrat?

[Auric Demonocles]

If you're voting based on your own interests instead of principle, you're evil.

I would vote against a politician running on "Give Auric a billion dollars and a million redheads" because, despite being in my interests, it's wrong.

[UnCivilServant]

The billion dollars wouldn't support the million redheads for long, you've have to put them to work.

[Auric Demonocles]

Well, I'd weed out all the ugly ones at the start, of course.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

He would comb through and keep the best 50.

[Auric Demonocles]

The remaining 999,950 can fight in a massive battle royale for the right to be the bonus 51st (who will be funded via advertising money from the televised fight).

[Pro Libertate]

I don't know, would I vote against the billion dollars for me? I could repair the damage done by my moral wavering with substantially less than $1 billion dollars.

[Spoonman.]

I have a pretty good life, but just in the past year I've wept when I first got to see my daughter in the NICU after she was born and at my grandfather's funeral.

If politics is what makes you cry, you really don't have a life.

[a better weapon]

They're the worst kind of people. I feel sorry that they've allowed politics ruin their lives. Like a heroin addict, you wonder what kind of lives they'd have led had they never been consumed.

[Pro Libertate]

That's precisely what's wrong with politics right now. It's serving a quasi-religious function for a significant number of people. One of the reasons the country has slid into socialism and greater authoritarianism is because most of us just focus on our personal lives and responsibilities and don't live for the government. Well, not willingly, anyway.

[Rufus J. Firefly]

I keep saying. Sugar Free is made of a stronger constitution than this Canadian hobo-hoser. I don't know how you could stand reading past one sentence of Jezebel.

[Zeb]

Goddamn it. How is that "voting against their own interests" shit still around? Apparently voting on principle is not allowed among poor people.
I wonder if these assholes go around telling rich liberals that they were stupid to vote for Democrats because it is against their own interests? I'm guessing not.

[Juice]

The "vote against your own interests" thing just makes me shake my head. Are they really that clueless? Just because those are the interests that you think others should have for themselves doesn't mean they do.

[Bardas Phocas]

Fear the Turtle.
http://sd.keepcalm-o-matic.co......rtle-4.png

[Rich]

But, enough about McConnell's victory.

[creech]

The only turd dropped in the pool was courtesy of Pennsylvania voters who handily kicked out the GOP incumbent governor and installed a novice who promises new progressive taxes on individuals, new corporate taxes (already highest in the U.S.) and throwing more money at dysfunctional urban schools. Welcome to Taxsylvania, where Santa manages to have someone else pay for all his goodies.

[John]

You now have a worse governor than Maryland. Pennsylvania is so bad that people might migrate to Maryland to escape it. That is a staggering thought.

[mauricegirodias]

They already come down for booze.

[waffles]

So many Maryland state troopers humping every car on that border.

[cavalier973]

There's a pleasant image.

[waffles]

If you don't want to tax the shit out of natural gas and give it to the children then you can got straight to hell. As a Pennsylvanian I have always put children and the environment first. Greedy corporations are exploiting the land beneath our feet and we should pinch them if they want to privilege to operate here. If we want to be an elite commonwealth on par with places like New York or California then we need elite taxes too!

Thank you Governor Wolf!

[John]

Even New York is smart enough to realize that shale gas is a ticket to riches. So this guy is so stupid he makes the politicians in New York seem smart. Wow.

[Ted S.]

Not so fast. I live in the part of New York that might benefit by fracking, and pretty much all the candidates were running "My evil opponent is supported by frackers!" ads.

[Zeb]

Did the ads work?

[Bones]

Did Albany suddenly change her tune on fracking? I live here and missed that memo.

[John]

My mistake. I thought they had for some reason.

[RG]

Yep. The media and the teachers union won out on a blatant lie the education spending was cut.

They've been crying poor for two decades now. We're f'd.

[Ted S.]

Santa hasn't visited Pennsylvania since the Eagles fans booed him.

[creech]

That was a drunken and disheveled Santa. The real Santa keeps showing up (at least for teachers and public employees) with huge 80%+ pensions and other goodies. Chickens, roost, etc.

[Florida Man]

Congratulations Brett L on your bet.

Congratulations Pro Lib but Uncle Charlie will be back!

Congratulations to the Libertarians of Florida beating the spread on Governor.

My condolences to medpot.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Did Kristen win the lottery?

[Florida Man]

Brett had a bet that Scott would stay in office and his wife bet he would get booted. Hundred bucks. Someone is going to get drunk tonight.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

If she did, I am sending a resume in....for a spot as "minion" or maybe "henchman".

[Atanarjuat]

Yeah, Charlie Crist's tears surpass any of the partisan idiots today, even.

Somehow north Florida sent a republican incumbent home from the US House in favor of Bob Graham's daughter. Apparently she had some "war on women" shit in her ads. Not sure how much that helped.

[John]

And Crist losing is almost as sweet as Coakley losing. Just think of the tears he is shedding as he realizes this morning that his political career is over. He will never hold power again.

[Idle Hands]

he cries through his feet. His tear ducts are completely water tight due to the face lifts and repeated spray tanning.

[Florida Man]

You think Charlie is going anywhere? He is like Michael Myers. No matter how dead you think he is, he keeps coming back.

[UnCivilServant]

I know three people named Michael Myers. Only one of them is fictional.

[Florida Man]

I watched Halloween for the first time this year. It turned into a comedy at the end at how many times that guy got killed with no explanation of his immortality. How did this ever become a classic?

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

How did this ever become a classic?

It was the original unkillable slasher movie.

[Zeb]

Coakley losing may be the most gratifying result from yesterday. What an awful person. Mass. does have an interesting habit of electing R governors fairly regularly.

[John]

Her losing and Walker winning are the most gratifying things yesterday. Think of all of the tears being cried by union hacks this morning.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

I would put Walker's win up there as well. As much as I would enjoy seeing Coakley tarred, feathered, and run out on a rail, it's nice to see someone who's accomplishing something win.

[Zeb]

Yeah, that's pretty good too. Good to see that enough people aren't buying the Public sector union bullshit. I don't get how anyone not directly benefiting has any sympathy for public employee unions.

[Pro Libertate]

Charlie Crist would like to announce that he will be running as the LP candidate for governor in 2018.

[cavalier973]

Yeah, he hasn't lost as a Libertarian yet.

[Pro Libertate]

I figure he comes out of the closet, highlights his descent from Indians, slaves, and disabled people, then runs on MJ legalization.

[widget]

CA proposition 46 was rejected. You are still allowed to get jacked up on morphine on your way out, but wear a helmet in the meantime!

[SugarFree]

Yummy Tears: Gawker Edition

No, that's not a link problem above. They haven't published anything yet. The wound is still too fresh.

[John]

And lets not forget. Martha Coakley lost last night. My sister in law up in Mass was telling me that a woman she works with is a big Coakley backer and stood outside in the November cold with hundreds of supporters at the Coakley "victory rally". The bitch didn't even come out and speak last night. Hundreds of her supporters were waiting in the cold to hear her speak and she didn't come out and say so much as thank you. Jesus, even Hitler came out of the Bunker and gave a few medals. What a vile nasty bitch that woman is. I hope she wallows in sorrow at being forever remembered as the biggest loser in Massachusetts political history.

[Auric Demonocles]

What do you think she runs for in 2016?

[John]

I bet the Democrats won't have her. She has now lost two state wide elections that were thought to be hers. She is officially a loser. She will never get nominated for state wide office again.

[Slumbrew]

I stayed up until 1:30 watching the returns, with my default position of resigned acceptance of "Gov. Coakley" turning into barely restrained glee. Coakley ducking out the side door at 12:50 without conceding or even talking to her supporters was icing on the cake.

She is a horrible person -- I hope Gerald Amirault enjoyed a cold one in her honor last night, though I suspect he'd prefer to have those extra years he spent in prison back instead.

[Auric Demonocles]

Haven't seen you around in forever. Thought you dropped off the board, actually.

[Slumbrew]

Been stupid-busy with work/life, rare that I have the time. As much as I love you all (I LOL'd at the bunker comment above), it's just too much of a time-suck.

This was a special occasion - tears of unfathomable sadness taste better when shared.

[Clown Hunter]

That's a problem, because Paul needs state legislators to change the law to allow him to pursue both the presidency and re-election to his U.S. Senate seat in 2016.

No prob. Promise to allow the legislature to appoint his successor as Senator if he wins the Presidency.

[Weigel's Tears]

WHY? WHY? My team...

[Citizen Nothing]

even Hitler came out of the Bunker and gave a few medals.

I laughed.

[SugarFree]

Me too.

[robc]

If you didnt laugh, you dont have a sense of humor.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

Ach...um, ja! I alzo laffed! Ja.

[Pro Libertate]

I wonder how many votes Adolf Hitler gets as a write-in candidate? Probably second to Mickey Mouse.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

"he's right you know!"

[Lord Humungus]

Jonah Goldberg: Vote Early and Ignorant
Extended voting periods have cranked up the demagoguery

The deeper problem is that we simultaneously expect too much and too little of casting a ballot. See, for instance, actress Lena Dunham's "5 Reasons Why I Vote (and You Should Too)" on Planned Parenthood's website. Reason No. 1: "When you vote, you feel so, so good."

"You will have the best day just because you voted," she writes. "I wore fishnets and a little black dress to vote, then walked around with a spring in my slinky step. It lasted for days. I can summon it when I'm blue. It's more effective than exercise or ecstasy or cheesecake . . . "

[Redmanfms]

I used to think that Dunham was some kind of brilliant performance art, but the more her character wears on and the more I learn about her past I've come to think she is just as vapid, vacuous, and idiotic as she appears to be.

[SugarFree]

Let her check your vagina. You might have pebbles in there.

[Every Cop is a Criminal]

Here's the thing on that. I think what really happened is the Dunham put the pebbles in her sister's vulva in order to freak out her mom. I mean, what are the odds that a one-year-old would just pappen to pebble-up at the very same time her older sister decides to have a peak. She says it was a prank pulled by her little sister, but always remember, progressives project.

[John]

She is all that. Her show is not meant to be some kind of ironic indictment of its characters. She is not holding a mirror up to women like her and saying "look how awful you are". She is writing characters she sees as accurate reflections of who she is and doesn't see anything wrong with them.

[Zeb]

I decided not to vote. That feels pretty good. I want to make some "I Didn't Vote" stickers for the next election.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

I voted, and felt pretty stupid the entire time.

[Pro Libertate]

I was thinking this morning that they should have two stickers: "I Voted" and "I Emoted."

[Banjos]

I still prefer this one.

[Pro Libertate]

Better still would be "I voided."

[The Laconic]

*looks around for Barfman*

I guess it's up to me.

*BARF*

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

"You will have the best day just because you voted,"

WTF is this shit?

[Suthenboy]

Frumpy, podgy girl thinks her step is slinky.

Dunham is one creepy piece of work.

[kinnath]

I just want to take a moment to thank Bruce Braley (D) from Iowa for giving up his secure seat in the House to run for Harkin's empty Senate seat. Not only did he manage to lose by a huge margin to a novice Republican woman (one-term state senator), but his House seat (in a securely D district) went to a novice Republican man (no prior elected positions).

Now this is killing two birds with one stone -- Harkin & Braley both gone in January 2015!

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

God Bless Iowa!

[cavalier973]

The Pat Murphy campaign commercials against Blum on Monday talked about how he was a successful and shrewd businessman who made difficult choices that laid the foundation for astonishing success.

......................

Actually, they said he cheated people out of their overtime, laid off 70 people, moved the business out of state, and became a millionaire in the process. One just must learn how to properly interpret campaign commercials.

[cavalier973]

He moved his business out of state "to avoid paying Iowa taxes."

[BardMetal]

Yummy progressive tears all morning. Hmm progressive tears would be a good name for a brand of gun oil.

[lap83]

http://www.guns.com/wp-content.....01/1_1.jpg

[Brian D]

You can already get Liberal Tears.

[Steve G]

Ask and ye shall receive. One of about 3 that came up in a quick search...

http://www.article15clothing.c.....s-gun-oil/

[Restoras]

Remington Brite Tears? I like it...

[The Other Kevin]

If I were a Democrat, I'd be pretty pissed right now. 6 years ago they had it all - Presidency, Senate, and House. They could have moved their agenda and passed anything short of making Obama emperor. But instead, in an epic display of arrogance and stupidity, they passed that dumb ass health care law, that negatively affected me and so many other people. They just had to die on that hill. Well, last night they lost it all. So while I'm not a fan of Republicans, it is nice to finally see the Democrats get their due. I hope Nancy "pass it to see what's in it" Pelosi is passed out in a pool of her own vomit this morning.

[John]

I would be too. It is worse than even that. The Republicans now own more state legislative seats and governorships than at anytime since before the Great Depression. Obama fucked up the party so badly, the Democrats couldn't get a governor elected in Maryland and Massachusetts or defeat Scott Walker in Wisconsin.

People wonder why Hillary at age 69 seems to be the only viable Democratic Presidential candidate. It is because the Democrats have been losing more and more at the state level since about 1994. State politics is for the national parties what the minor leagues are to major league baseball teams. It is where they develop their talent. And you can't do that if you are constantly losing.

[cavalier973]

I think Joe Biden should have his shot, after playing second fiddle to the President for six years, now.

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

He had his shot...

He fired both barrels off the back deck.

[Scruffy Nerfherder]

I hope Nancy "pass it to see what's in it" Pelosi is passed out in a pool of her own vomit this morning.

Pelosi will never feel remorse. I think she's incapable.

[WTF]

True, the undead do not feel.

[BardMetal]

Please nobody roll Nancy over.

[The Last American Hero]

So, kinda like the Team Red kids felt in November 2006?

[John]

The Republicans never had it all. They had a small majority in the house and a tiny one in the Senate and then not until 2002.

Hell, Bush barely won in 2000 and won a decent but hardly landslide in 2004. The Democrats all thought 2008 was 1932 all over again and they would hold a permanent majority in both houses and the Senate and have the White House such that Republicans would never have any influence over policy again.

[Banjos]

A year ago during the government shutdown I told a former prog friend of mine on Facebook that the Republicans will take the Senate because of the economy and Obamacare. He really was convinced that Dems would have control of the country for eternity because...women...and hispanics...and old people dying. I wish I could shove this in his face, but he defriended me awhile back.

[John]

Remember the political geniuses at Reason were convinced the shut down was going to destroy the Republican party. I think the shutdown more than anything is why they won yesterday. It showed that they had some back bone and it made the entire Democratic party put their lot in with Obama. Take away the shut down and things are not so clear and some of the Democrats who lost yesterday might have been able to distance themselves from Obama better.

[Lord Humungus]

It certainly strengthened their message when the Obamacare exchanges went to shit. "See - we were right!"

[John]

It was the lowest point in the history of Reason. The one time the Republicans grew a pair of balls and tried to do the right thing and Reason gets sand in their vaginas about how unreasonable the Republicans were being.

[Banjos]

There are so so so many conservative and libertarian leaning Independents who won't vote because they they see no difference in the parties. And when the Republicans start differentiating themselves and show backbone the political pundits living in the beltway freak the fuck out and scream doom and gloom for them.

[John]

Exactly.

[Pro Libertate]

I was totally in favor of the shutdown. Not only did it show that the GOP had at least something vaguely resembling a principle--and that's all I'll give them that one time--it also demonstrated the shenanigans the president and the Democrats were willing to perform for political purposes. Libertarians weren't the only ones that realized that the administration was shutting things down, and deciding on the more painful things to shut down, too.

Couple that with the bad economy, the growing pile of scandals, Obamacare, the ineptitude, particularly more recently in foreign policy, etc., and it's no wonder people are less enchanted with the Democrats.

[robc]

Local incumbent edition:

I dont know the local scene yet, so I voted against two incumbents (I didnt even know what party they were until I got to the booth) for odd reasons (also, they were incumbents). I mentioned the votes in PM links thread.

The County Clerk lost in a landslide. She is the one who ran an ad with the office staff photo and names endorsing her without asking them first. She may not have got a vote from inside her office.

The Sheriff won fairly handily, despite having a nickname of Peanuts. Like I said in the thread last night, Peanut would be okay, but the plural is just unacceptable.

[waffles]

Local elections really are the most influential. I was in Lake County CA last weekend and saw some dread-head trying to get support for measure O. It was a reasonable loosening of pot-growing laws which I could get behind. However, it also created a county government agency to enforce the law and relied on taxing pot growers to pay for the new agency. How exactly is that going to work? With those taxes there is no incentive to go legit, so the measure failed handily. It seems CA pot growers are more than happy to remain off the books.

[creech]

Heck, our Sheriff is named "Bunny" and she easily wins. Must be the four stars she wears on her shoulder strap!

[Ted S.]

Non-election news, and something you never thought you'd read about:

Icelandic Scrabble Society Rocked by Compound Words

Scrabble is very popular in Iceland as could be seen in the first National Competition in November 2013. Sixteen people braved the storm that hit Reykjav?k that weekend and sat for two full days over the board, filled with Icelandic words, all in the 2002 dictionary, ?slensk or?ab?k.

[...]

"Compound words were the root of the problem," board member J?hannes Benediktsson explained to visir.is. "We wanted short and concise rules, whereas our colleague wanted very detailed guidelines." Some compound words may not be in the Icelandic dictionary, such as unpopular, marble-floor, hairless. Examples of impermissible words not found in dictionaries: Song-easy, ox-maiden, cat-dress.

[Citizen Nothing]

They banned "ox-maiden" and "cat-dress"?
Mutha-fuckas!

[WTF]

But what about shield-maiden? Surely they allow that one!

[Pro Libertate]

Allow? They demand it!

[Griffin3]

Because sometimes a paid vacation for shooting a civilian just isn't enough:

[NYC] City documents from fiscal 2013 show that several fatal shootings resulted in payouts related to PTSD, which is considered a full-body injury. City employees who are too injured to work receive temporary disability payments equal to 100 percent of their salaries, without taxes deducted. That can mean payments ranging from $167 to $749 a week, for up to 500 weeks. [Emphasis mine]

Read the whole article ... if you want to barf up your breakfast.

It's a great weight-loss opportunity.

[Trigger Warning]

Holy fucking shit.

[robc]

KY GOP increases hold on state senate from 23-14-1 to 26-12.

State House stays at 54-46 for the Dems.

Kinda weird. But each house got to do their own redistricting, so maybe not.

[Auric Demonocles]

The Senate and House have different districts (which are not predefined like a whole county)? Weird.

[robc]

They work exactly like US rep districts, only smaller.

The state supremes have put antigerrymandering rules in place. The maps must minimize split counties, for example.

For the Senate, it means my county is exactly one senate district, as it falls within the 5% population range. However there is one whole house district and parts of 4 others, as its only one county being split. So there is a safe D district and R areas are paired with surrounding R counties.

So there is still gerrymandering, just avoids the worst abuses.

[Hyperion]

It's not good for Rand because he needs that rule change so that he can run for prez and still be a senator.

[cavalier973]

It would probably be better for Paul to support a Cruz run in 2016 and then get picked for running mate.

[PRX]

for a nothingburger, there sure have been a lot of scalps of Obamacare supporters taken.

[John]

The Republicans ran more Obamacare ads than anything else.

[cavalier973]

Joni Ernst billboards contrasted her with Braley using the terms "Individual Liberty" versus Braley's "Government Control".

[a better weapon]

Which one of you drives the blue Jetta TDI?

I saw the Reason sticker and got worried that having two visitors to this site in one apartment might make us a ripe target for a domestic drone strike.

[Restoras]

Wasn't me, but let me just say I love this place.

[Lord Humungus]

I would never own a VW.

(as he looks out on his driveway and sees a BMW and a Mini - jeezus, I am a glutton for punishment).

[SRVolunteer]

I do.

I don't have a sticker of any kind on it, however, and I live in two houses, not an apartment.

[Hyperion]

I dunno if this can even be right, but I think my vote counted in MD last night. I heard, as of late yesterday evening that the D gov candidate was losing ... now get this shit ... in Baltimore city! Anything is possible now. If unicorns start flying I won't be surprised.

[John]

I can't believe it either. Sure Brown is an idiot who has fucked up every job he has ever held. But this is the state that elected O'Malley twice. Being stupid and incompetent is no bar to holding office in Maryland and has in the past been considered a plus.

I really would like to hear how it is that Brown lost. He was black, liberal and promising more free shit. Could it be that people hate Obama so much that even the liberals of Maryland won't vote for someone just because he reminds them of Obama?

[Hyperion]

I think it's a couple of things. One, the voters that Obama depended on, did not turn out for Brown because they are becoming disillusioned because Dem's tax and spend policies are not working to make their lives better. So they stayed home, unable to force themselves to vote for either a GOP candidate or Brown. Now the voters that Brown did not want to get to the polls, got motivated because of being seriously pissed off ,and did vote. I think those are the 2 factors.

[stephenansarinnov]

my classmate's half-sister makes $77 /hr on the laptop . She has been fired from work for ten months but last month her payment was $20145 just working on the laptop for a few hours. you could check here....

????? http://www.netjob70.com

[Bobarian (Mr. Xtreme)]

So she was net-whoring for more than 60 hours a week?

Her vagina must have calluses!

[Andrew S.]

A prog friend of mine has multiple rantings/pictures/shares up on Facebook talking about how the Koch Brothers "spent hundreds of millions of dollars to buy the Senate", and how Team Blue is going to take back both houses of Congress and win the Presidency in 2016.

The tears are so very delicious.

[John]

They might take back the Senate. There are a lot of Republicans up in blue or purple states in 2016. No way are they taking back the House.

And even their hopes in the Senate and the Presidential Race depend on either Obama finding a way to make himself less toxic or them finding a way not to be linked with him. Given Obama's personality, I think the former is highly unlikely. The latter is possible but I don't see how they do it without alienating the black vote.

[waffles]

The black vote that becomes all but irrelevant in a post immigration reform world.

[Free Society]

Multiculturalism is too important to the state's mission to erode local identity to be reformed. Just sit back and learn to love the Somali refugee camp across the street.

[John]

I am pretty sure that the gentry liberals and union voters that have been voting Democrat all of these years are not going to like that or take it sitting down.

The other problem is that the Hispanics who can vote are essentially natives. So, whatever damage open immigration does to natives also does to them. I am not buying that open borders gets Hispanics to all run and vote Democrat. The Hispanic doesn't want low priced competition for his labor anymore than anyone else does.

[Free Society]

I have precisely zero problem with Hispanics or any other '3rd world' immigration. It's when the state promotes 3rd world immigration at the expense of European or otherwise '1st world' immigration. Intended or not, it's centrally planning the demographic makeup to be more conducive to the state's goal of expanding it's own power.

[John]

That is exactly what they are doing. And the Hispanics are kidding themselves if they don't think the Democrats won't move in Africans or Asians or anyone else they can find to replace Hispanics like they replaced blacks.

[John]

No it won't. All Obama can do is not deport them. He can't give them citizenship. And the Democrats are never going to get a 90% stranglehold on Hispanics they have on blacks. Moreover, Democrats are starting to have a white problem. I don't care how many minority votes you put together, you can't win if you are getting less than 40% of native whites.

The Obama coalition was built of people whose interests are often completely opposed. It only held together because the country was rejecting Bush and he was able to make the 2012 election about culture war bullshit. But you can't run on culture war and BOOOSH!! in 2016.

[creech]

"Democrats are starting to have a white problem"

Not in Minnesota, apparently. There, the whites apparently have a problem with Republicans. Big Freaking Franken victory.

[John]

They have on in a lot of other places.

[lap83]

White liberals in MN have a bit of a complex about being afraid of black people and hating poor people. Voting Democrat makes them feel better about their deep-seated prejudices.

[lap83]

Minneapolis was where I grew up, and I have to love it, but you'd be surprised that a place so elitist could exist in the midwest.

[Every Cop is a Criminal]

No. As a nearly life-long Minnesotan, it is their Scandinavian heritage at work.

[Pro Libertate]

The House is likely in GOP hands for a while. It would take them opening up concentration camps at this point to lose control in 2016.

Maybe it's not so shocking that so few Democrats seem to want to run for president. They'll get shit done with an opposition House.

[Steve G]

The full measure of O'care hasn't even hit yet. I won't be holding my breath for a dem comeback in '16

[John]

Exactly. People are clearly not happy with the Democratic performance over the last six years. What exactly are the Democrats going to do in the next two years to change that impression?

[Steve G]

The 'GOP obstructionism' card will get as maxed out as the race card..

[John]

Especially when Obama is vetoing popular bills that Democratic Senators have voted for.

[Swiss Servator, spare a franc?]

http://elections.chicagotribun.....nal/?st=IL

Chicago vs the rest of the state.

[KDN]

New York is the model for all state governments.

[Rhywun]

Nah, NY has blue pockets outside of NYC.

[Cdr Lytton]

A week late-
http://www.oregonlive.com/comm.....ookin.html

Fuck you, Bob Poole. I hope they shove that GPS transponder so far up your backside, it has a clear unimpeded line of sight to the entire constellation, you statist piece of shit. Choke on your Surface Transportation "Innovations".

[John]

The Virginia "Libertarian" Sarvis that Ron Bailey and Reason are so in love with endorsed that bullshit. Anyone who endorses GPS tracking of cars is a piece of shit and unworthy of serious consideration, I don't care what their other positions are.

[Zeb]

Yeah, what's wrong with tolls? If electric cars take off, there will need to be something to replace the gas tax.

Tracking is bad, but there are already lots of ways to track people already built into most new cars. And most people carry cell phones. I'd say the right time to freak out would have been when phones were mandated to have GPS and be trackable.

[UnCivilServant]

I don't have any to give. 🙁

[sarcasmic]

My dad had that album when I was a kid.
During the 80s when the loopy Christians got all crazy about backward masking and such, my mom threw the thing in the trash claiming that the name was satanic.

[UnCivilServant]

Not from random goat parts found hanging from a street lamp. I don't know where it's been.

[John]

That is appalling. The only upside of that the only reason Franken got re-elected is that he shut his mouth and basically made himself an empty chair Democratic vote in the Senate. So there is an upside to him winning. He will have to spend the next six years doing the same thing even though he no doubt has delusions of grandeur. That has to piss him off.

[John]

It wasn't close because Franken did absolutely nothing for six years.

[Pope Jimbo]

Tundra,

I had resigned myself to another six years of Franken a long time ago. The race that killed me was Dayton beating Johnson for governor.

I'm still scratching my head over that one.

[Pope Jimbo]

The weather. We stay for the weather.

[Pope Jimbo]

Remember, lead a good life and in the next you will go to a better place. Somewhere where there are FOUR months of warm weather.