Bluenami

Plus: Gerrymandering failures, Supreme Court to rule on Catholic preschool, and more...

The blue wave materialized last night, with Democrats winning solid majorities in both the House and the Senate. 

Elon Musk, who frittered away $446 million this cycle, is handling it all well:

Data centers in space looking pretty appealing right now

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 4, 2026

I'm looking at these results primarily as a repudiation of President Donald Trump and his party; overextrapolating—and believing last night's wins are indicative of a paradigm shift—is unwise, especially as Democrats didn't put forward much of a cohesive platform or offer much in terms of new ways of governing. The party remains fractured nationally, with vastly different pitches winning in different places; it just happened to be more compelling than the pitch made by the guys who've instituted tariffs, failed to fix inflation, and started multiple, mostly fruitless bombing campaigns around the globe.

Democrat Sherrod Brown beat Jon Husted to win the U.S. Senate seat that was up for grabs via special election in Ohio; Democrat James Talarico beat Republican Ken Paxton to win a Senate seat in Texas; Democrat Troy Jackson bested Republican (but pretty moderate) Susan Collins up in Maine, winning a Senate seat there. Democrat Abdul El-Sayed beat Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan, becoming the first Muslim in the U.S. Senate (and adding to the growing socialistic coalition in Congress). Adam Hamilton became the first Democrat elected by Kansans to the U.S. Senate since 1932.

Down in North Carolina, former Gov. Roy Cooper became the first Democrat to win a Senate race in the state since 2008; Gina Hinojosa, who will become Texas' first Latina governor, beat incumbent Greg Abbott (and will become the state's first Democratic governor in more than 30 years); Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton beat Vivek Ramaswamy in Ohio.

Republicans had a few small victories across the country, despite mostly being trounced. "Republicans fended off a significant challenge in a Senate race in Florida, with Senator Ashley Moody defeating Angie Nixon, a progressive Democrat," reports The New York Times. "Byron Donalds, a staunch Trump supporter, was elected Florida's first Black governor, keeping the Republicans' hold on that office."

There were some heartening policy wins. In California, the proposed billionaire wealth tax seems destined for failure, though final results are not yet in. Voters in Washington appear to be affirming the rights of female student athletes to compete only against athletes of their same sex—which libertarians are divided on, but I firmly support.

At press time, ballots were still being counted in Alaska's crazy Senate race and in Mississippi's super tight Senate race. More on those results tomorrow, most likely.

Though we shouldn't overextrapolate, the magnitude of Democrats' win is enormous. "Democrats flipped House seats in rural North Carolina and central Kentucky, in the suburbs of St. Louis and Omaha, and all along the Texas border," reports The New York Times. "They seized three seats in Iowa and four in Pennsylvania. They rebuffed redrawn lines in Florida.…Democrats made inroads deep into Republican territory, prevailing in a Kentucky district, for instance, that Mr. Trump carried by 15 percentage points in 2024." The House majority will be large, though we do not yet know how big, as not all races have been called.

"It's just a point in time, Bret. Just a point in time. It's the way it is," said Trump on Fox News to host Bret Baier last night. "There was a mood in the air, I guess."

It will be interesting to see whether Republicans—to the extent that they still have power—begin to carve out more independence from the MAGA movement; the degree to which this midterm defeat has implications for Republicans' 2028 contenders; and if Democrats, once they're in power, accommodate the far-left socialist flank of the party.

---

Scenes from Texas: I'm in Texas—my beloved grandmother passed away—and have been astonished by the amount of Talarico fervor I'm seeing, even in more rural areas. He struck me as a weak (and heretical) candidate, but I guess the other guy wasn't great either. Downtown Austin flipped out when the results were announced:

Austin Texas sounds like an Eastern European city that just overthrew a dictator pic.twitter.com/7q492iqGwh

— Conor Rogers (@conorjrogers) November 4, 2026

It's interesting to look at all the downballot Democratic victories here. It's possible they California'd my Texas, but it's also possible Republican leadership just didn't do much good here, that both gerrymandering and Musk money backfired in a major way.

---

QUICK HITS:

• A good point:

Republicans seem to have gerrymandered themselves out of seats by creating close districts that they are losing in a blue wave. If this result holds, the poetic justice will live in infamy forever.

— Megan McArdle (@asymmetricinfo) November 4, 2026

• "I'm more than a little worried about what Democrats might decide a 'tsunami' means in terms of how they should govern," noted Reason's Katherine Mangu-Ward in The New York Times. "A big blue sweep doesn't mean voters love Democrats' policy proposals; it most likely means they're sick to death of Republicans."
• "The Supreme Court on Tuesday seemed inclined to rule in favor of a Catholic school that says it has been unfairly excluded from Colorado's universal pre-K program because it denies enrollment to children of same-sex parents—a policy it argues is protected by the constitutional right to the free exercise of religion," reports The Washington Post. "St. Mary is among the 34 preschools in the Denver archdiocese that cannot participate in the state's universal pre-K program because they require that parents sign a statement of 'Community Beliefs and Commitments,' in which they agree to accept church teachings 'increasingly at odds with' secular culture. That includes agreeing that abortion and same-sex marriage are immoral. The agreements are meant to ensure families who attend are aligned with the preschool's Catholic teachings. But it also means the children of gay parents are effectively not allowed to attend. That goes against the state's mandate that schools cannot discriminate on the basis of race, income level and other protected characteristics such as sexual orientation and gender identity."
• "Data center developers seeking to build dozens of sprawling artificial intelligence campuses across Texas were already dealing with a suspension of approvals under Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott," reports Bloomberg. "Under Gina Hinojosa, elected on Tuesday as the first Democratic governor of the Lone Star State in more than three decades, they're facing their worst-case scenario."

Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

The blue wave materialized last night...

Well, I already spent that $5k so now what am I supposed to do.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Youll spend far more than that with dem control.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

Spend? That's a funny way to say taxed.

[Eeyore]

Taxed. That's a funny way to say stolen.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

Ha.

[Bubba Jones]

The Texas gerrymandering left republicans with a majority of the US House delegation from Texas. I think it's not accurate to claim "it didn't work."

[Purple Martin]

Nationwide, including Texas, Trump ordered a Dummymander that resulted in a net Republican loss of what had been safe R seats.

So…tell me what's the definition of 'it worked' on your planet?

[Liberty_Belle]

Trump was a secret Democrat the entire time !!

[Fist of Etiquette]

...Democrats didn't put forward much of a cohesive platform or offer much in terms of new ways of governing.

As no one learns any lessons from these things, expect a return to Woke 1.

[Chuck P. (Now with less Sarc more snark)]

You wish. More like Woke 3, With a Vengeance.

Yippie kai yeah, motherfucker!

[Fist of Etiquette]

Republicans fended off a significant challenge in a Senate race in Florida...

Florida Man appears to be our last hope.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Voters in Washington appear to be affirming the rights of female student athletes to compete only against athletes of their same sex...

The twilight of the ladyboy.

[Don't look at me! ( Is the war over yet?)]

Who knew Washington people were so transphobic?

[Z Crazy]

Heres the thing.

if the teams are separated into a cock team and a pissy team, how are trannies excluded?

Trannies simply are eligible for the team based on if they have a cock or pussy.

[Liberty_Belle]

Try not to drag your knuckles.

[skeptical scientist]

It's not transphobic to believe that male/female sports categories are meant to give women an even playing field by excluding the 50% of the population that, thanks to testosterone, has much higher strength and lung capacity that women can't hope to match without devoting at least 10x more effort to training, if at all. It's not transphobic to think that the 50% of the population that are excluded because of these inherent advantages should be excluded based on the presence of these advantages, and not based on gender identity, which is not the same thing.

[EISTAU Gree-Vance]

You must be too skeptical to recognize sarcasm, science boy.

[Minadin]

"I'm more than a little worried about what Democrats might decide a 'tsunami' means in terms of how they should govern,"

Doesn't matter, they aren't about to moderate:

https://notthebee.com/article/democrats-win-big-immediately-threaten-enemies

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Yeap. It was immediate. And reason will cheer it.

[damikesc]

No, they'll deny it for a while. THEN say it is a good thing.

[The Average Dude (Who's Smarter Than You)]

Indeed. Fortunately, when Trump and/or his MAGA base threaten his enemies, it's 100% justified.

[damikesc]

Pretty much, yes.

[Medulla Oblongata]

"Lawyer up" is the catchphrase of the day as they threated their political opponents up and down the line with legal proceedings and prosecutions. Even if completely fabricated, the process is the punishment.

Dems will not govern, since Congress will be all hearing all the time.

[Z Crazy]

more than one person online said they should have fed Trump's RINO instincts instead of crying Russia Russia all the time.

[chemjeff radical individualist]

Even if completely fabricated, the process is the punishment.

Letitia James and James Comey agree with you.

[Minadin]

James and Comey practically pioneered the process.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

The process excludes accountability for democrats.

[damikesc]

I don't feel bad for the Republicans. Couldn't even muster a fucking vote on the SAVE Act that significant majorities on both sides of the aisle supported.

[Idaho-Bob]

This. It proves there are other factors in play, that does not include the American people.

[The Average Dude (Who's Smarter Than You)]

Absolutely - most, if not all of these elections are surely stolen, and those horrible, criminal-ridden "illegals" are definitely to blame.

[damikesc]

...or they could not even try to pass POPULAR legislation, so what was the point?

[Outlaw Josey Wales]

Sounds like basic uni-party affirmation to me but hey, who's smarter than you here. Right?

[Fist of Etiquette]

"It's just a point in time, Bret. Just a point in time. It's the way it is," said Trump on Fox News to host Bret Baier last night.

The worst thing Trump has done yet, putting that Bruce Hornsby song in my head.

[Stupid Government Tricks]

It's interesting that he hasn't claimed these elections were stolen ... yet.

[Marshal]

I wonder if that's because he can't run again so there's no benefit to keeping the game going.

[Purple Martin]

Donald John "I didn't lose! I wasn't even on the ballot" Trump's solace rests only in the knowledge that has been a certainty his entire life:

"I Alone, Could Do That."

[Syd Henderson]

But he asked people to vote like he was on the ballot and they did.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Some things will never change.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I'm in Texas—my beloved grandmother passed away...

Sorry to hear it but grandmothers insist on doing that.

[Rev Arthur L kuckland (5-30-24 banana republic day)]

Unless they are in Canada, then even if the explicitly say don't kill me Canada kills them1

[Fist of Etiquette]

It's possible they California'd my Texas...

Too many Cali ex-pats brought their voting habits with them when they escaped the Golden State?

[Medulla Oblongata]

Between the exodus of Democrats fleeing Democrat hell-holes then turning around to vote for Democrats in their new homes and the free shit crowd, it was bound to happen. Should have never let them in.

[Z Crazy]

doesn't that mean the hell-hiles get less Democratic though?

[Stupid Government Tricks]

No. Suppose the 10% and below woke depart to a 0% woke state and leave the higher wokes behind. That raises the average woke quotient for both states.

[Ron]

Democrats didn't flee blue states for Red they went to red states to make them blue.

[Rev Arthur L kuckland (5-30-24 banana republic day)]

R states need to pass bans on d voters moving in

[Medulla Oblongata]

If only California's exit tax had been enacted a while ago!

[Bubba Jones]

The Calis I have met in Texas have all been right wingers fleeing progressives.

"He struck me as a weak (and heretical) candidate, but I guess the other guy wasn't great either."

That has to be the laziest take yet. Every GOP attack ad painted him as a libertarian who had actually read the Bible. Can't have that if you are a right wing jihadist.

[Idaho-Bob]

The Calis I have met in Texas have all been right wingers fleeing progressives.

This is the proggie mantra since Covid. Idaho, Arizona, Tennessee, etc. Election results prove you are full of shit.

[Ron]

It didn't help that Obama dumped Somalies in Idaho specifically to turn it blue. the great replacement has been real and after 2028 will probably explode with open borders to secure their position. Your average democrat thinks they are doing good while those in charge are literally looking to destroy what we have, for proof just look at Europe

[Idaho-Bob]

Look at Boise. It is the Austin of Idaho.

White liberal women declare Virtue Signaling > governing.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

To be fair... mao would be a right winger to him.

[mad.casual]

He's (intentionally or not) retardedly exploiting the Celebratory Parallax.

I've made this point in IL for over 2 decades. Speak the term "Illinois Republican" and Illini don't understand it while Hoosiers, Badgers, Wolverines, and Hawkeyes don't need it explained.

[Medulla Oblongata]

The Celebration Parallax

A parallax is the apparent difference in position of the same object seen from different vantage points. For instance, an analogue speedometer that reads sixty miles per hour to the driver, but fifty to the passenger—even though the needle itself is only in one place.

The Celebration Parallax may be stated as: “the same fact pattern is either true and glorious or false and scurrilous depending on who states it.” In contemporary speech, on any “controversial” topic—or, to say better, regime priority—the decisive factor is the intent of the speaker. If she can be presumed to be celebrating the phenomenon under discussion, she may shout her approval from the rooftops. If not, he better shut up before someone comes along to shut him up.

Note also that the key distinction here is celebration versus non-celebration, not support versus opposition. One need not actually, clearly oppose the subject under discussion in order to be blameworthy. Declining or neglecting to celebrate it forcefully enough is enough. As in Stalin’s Russia, lack of enthusiastic clapping is regarded as opposition. The legitimacy of one’s right to state the same identical fact, in the same identical language, depends on who one is and what one thinks of it. Since the left presumes that all persons of color approve of the phenomena covered by the Celebration Parallax, the Parallax is really a test to distinguish allies from Deplorables.

To the best of my recollection, the origin of the Celebration Parallax arose from the need to defend “affirmative action,” a very unpopular policy since its inception. The party line therefore goes like this: People of color must be granted explicit preferences to overcome America’s “legacy of racism” so that we may “diversify” America’s power centers and end white male dominance, a move that—in addition to being necessary to address the country’s inherent racism—improves those institutions by infusing them with different and hitherto neglected points of view. Also, kids of color need “role models” who “look like themselves.”

But there is no such thing as “reverse discrimination,” which is itself a racist term, and there are no “quotas” (another racist term) whatsoever, but only “timetables,” “goals,” and measures to evaluate applicants and candidates “holistically.”

On no subject is the Parallax more prevalent than immigration. Depending on who’s doing the talking, the demographic transformation of the United States is either a glorious trend that portends a permanent Democratic majority and a more “vibrant” future, or else a “conspiracy theory” that is not happening in any way at all, no-how.

The Left insists that concerns from certain quarters that immigration policy in America (and Europe) amounts to a “great replacement” is a “dangerous,” “evil,” “racist,” “false” “conspiracy theory.” But a leftist New York Times columnist can write an article entitled “We Can Replace Them” and … nothing. Same fundamental point, except she’s all for it and her targets aren’t. A U.S. Senator can exult that demographic change will doom Republicans. Joe Biden himself can refer to an “unrelenting stream of immigration.” Except they’re celebrating it and calling for it. Anyone on the Right who uses the exact same words will not merely be denounced; the very fact pattern that is affirmed when Biden says it will be denied when the Rightist repeats it.

https://americanmind.org/salvo/thats-not-happening-and-its-good-that-it-is/

[damikesc]

Paxton did seem to lack any semblance of charisma.

[Medulla Oblongata]

Republicans did seem to run just about the worst possible set of candidates. Kind of like Democrats putting up Harris.

[Fist of Etiquette]

A big blue sweep doesn't mean voters love Democrats' policy proposals...

Since when as the will of the electorate mattered?

[Medulla Oblongata]

The free shit crowd takes over.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Yeap. On the path to Spain, Germany and UK. May be lost.

What happens when you fall for lies if the leftist moderate and fight actual attempts at cuts.

Reason isnt allowed to cheer for millei ever now.

[jcw]

that's rich.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

I think it will be more like the free shit crowd will get thrown a couple of bones to keep them on the plantation. Similar to NY Gov throwing Mamdani a couple of bones to make him look good.

[Fist of Etiquette]

But it also means the children of gay parents are effectively not allowed to attend.

Only if they're married.

[Medulla Oblongata]

Try getting them into the madrasa opening down the street.

[Stupid Government Tricks]

That would be pretty funny. Alas, the woke will never sue a fellow oppressed victim, even if said oppressed victim would gladly oppress the woke.

[mad.casual]

... to each other or other partners of the same sex.

[Don't look at me! ( Is the war over yet?)]

So everything is going to be perfect now, right? Right?

[Spiritus Mundi]

I am mad prices are high so I am going to vote for the ideas running the least affordable states in America!!!!

[Medulla Oblongata]

Gas will be $1.50 tomorrow, groceries will drop to pre-COVID costs, healthcare will be free.

[Don't look at me! ( Is the war over yet?)]

Then peace will guide the planets
And love will steer the stars

[Fist of Etiquette]

Data center developers seeking to build dozens of sprawling artificial intelligence campuses across Texas were already dealing with a suspension of approvals under Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott...

Yeah, let's build datacenters on the face of the sun.

[mad.casual]

80% of data centers running 100 Vigintillion-parameter models quit right before finding the one weird trick that will overcome the laws of thermodynamics.

[Idaho-Bob]

Common theme on X this morning:

Post

Matt Binder
@MattBinder
arrest Elon Musk
seize his factories
nationalize SpaceX

[Spiritus Mundi]

Reeeeason will cheer the proper administration if justice.

[Idaho-Bob]

They want to execute Elon

https://x.com/libsoftiktok/status/2117866607867494876

[damikesc]

Reason applauds such things.

[Don't look at me! ( Is the war over yet?)]

It’s like they never heard of the story with the goose that laid golden eggs.

[Medulla Oblongata]

Musk should go Galt. Close Tesla, close the mega battery plants, close SpaceX, shut down twitter, shutdown the supercharger network, fire everyone.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

I guess Galt didn't have any shareholders.

[Medulla Oblongata]

I can see him going full Reardon if they try to nationalize his company(ies).

[mad.casual]

At that point, it really does become a question of what he owes to the shareholders.

[EISTAU Gree-Vance]

Or D’anconia. He could blow the fuckers up so no one can use them.

[Purple Martin]

TrickyVic, I hate to be the one to break it to you, but Ayn Rand wrote Strong Man/Swooning Woman Romance Novels with a little random economic theory woven in (Trump's Glowing Golden Hair tossed about by the wind would have made a good cover for the paperback).

Not my reading preference but a lot of Libertarians seem to like it.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

I've read many of them and the romance is not the key plot in any of them.

[mad.casual]

The (melo)drama is intentional. Her work and commentary on it are explicit about this. She's aiming for the aspiration of Friedrich Nietzsche rather than the prescriptive social policy of Elisabeth. She intentionally wove her ideology into a fictional dramatic narrative a la Faust rather than something more Matthew/Mark/Luke/John.

Acting like this is some big revelation is like "informing" people that MacBeth or Julius Caesar are not accurate historical depictions and have been modified for dramatic effect.

[Purple Martin]

Please Vic, As a teenager, I read them too, before maturing enough to move on to more realistic authors like Tolkien.

Dagny Taggart's pursuit of the strong, calm, virile John Galt IS the standard Romance Novel trope. Rand's sprinkling of Objectivism and laissez-faire capitalism doesn't take Atlas Shrugged out of the Romance genre.

[mad.casual]

Your take is below AI standards.

I'm sure feminists would love your interpretation that Dagney Taggart is nothing but a "Swooning Woman".

Either way, her intentional dramatization and narrative style beats the fuck out of Mein Kampf, Das Kapital, and even Elisabeth's "version" of The Will To Power (assuming you even think women should be writing social commentary at all).

[Chuck P. (Now with less Sarc more snark)]

"Your take is below AI standards."

That got a full body laugh out of me. The trolls are inded out in force.

[chemjeff radical individualist]

Remember: Some left-wing nutter on X saying crazy shit represents the entirety of the left wing.

But some right-wing politician saying crazy shit represents only himself, and it would be wrong to impute his opinions onto the rest of the right-wing movement.

[Idaho-Bob]

Some left-wing nutter shoots Trump - Entire left-wing cheers.
Some left-wing nutter murders Kirk - Entire left-wing cheers.
Some left-wing nutter wants to execute Musk - Entire left-wing cheers.

We know what you and your kind desire. You say it every day. We believe you.

[Spiritus Mundi]

it just happened to be more compelling than the pitch made by the guys who've instituted tariffs, failed to fix inflation, and started multiple, mostly fruitless bombing campaigns around the globe.

You do know inflation is way down from the 7% and 6.5% years under Biden. And those prices just don't go away because the rate of change decreased. Inflation was being handled until the Iran bombing started. Iran was the dumbest thing the 'no war' president has done.

https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/inflation/current-inflation-rates/

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

This is the most infuriating thing. Sister in law was cheering the results last night. Sent her the CPI chart of last 10 years. She continued to blame trump. Dem voters are ignorant.

[Spiritus Mundi]

Nonstop propaganda campaign of 'everything bad in your life is beacause of Trump' is effective.

And Reeeeeason plays right along everyday.

[Murray Rothtard]

yeah, my relatives can't eat CPI or pay their rent with CPI either. Fucking retards.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

And you continue to show your midwit ways. Are you still screaming about the cost of eggs like the view is?

When did those food costs increase the most midwit?

Even beef prices are due to regulations under Biden that led to less beef production.

You continue to be a leftist attemptint to cosplay pushing every dem lie.

[Medulla Oblongata]

I bought a dozen jumbo eggs this past weekend for $1.98. What's the View's issue?

[rswallen]

Saying its down compared to a few years ago doesn't mean much if you think that, but for some of the policies of the last couple of years (ie tariffs), it could have been lower still.

[Quicktown Brix]

Inflation was being handled until the Iran bombing started.

Nope. This kind of denial is the primary reason why you lost so bad. MAGA should have learned from Biden and Kamala when they did the same thing.

[Spiritus Mundi]

Didn't look at the link did you fucktard?

[Quicktown Brix]

You ignore a plethora of data that shows inflation was raised by tariffs, then you post a CPI chart (which supports the aforementioned conclusion, but without directly stating it), conclude the opposite of what everybody else sees and then start spouting off about "fucktards." Your news bubble or your biased cognitive dissonance may have protected you from learning that tariffs cause inflation, but the rest of the country wasn't so blindly drinking MAGA KoolAid.

I was here for 2 fucking years telling you this was going to happen.

If these issues were acknowledged and dealt with this in real time instead of denial and excuses, we wouldn't be in the situation we find ourselves in today. The bed is made. Time to lie in it.

[Spiritus Mundi]

Biden last year: 3.4%
Trump 1st year: 2.9%
Trump 2nd year: 2.7%
After Iran: 3.7%

It came down with the tariffs which started on day one. That is why you are a fucktard.

Your instance that all inflation is from tariffs is also retarted. Why then was inflation 7% under Biden without tariffs. Again, fucktard.

[Quicktown Brix]

You left off 2022 because it helped clarify that a inflation rate that was rapidly dropping, dramatically slowed in Trump's first year, then nearly stopped dropping by his second...even before the war.

You also ignore the vast and overwhelming economic data that also runs contrary to your narrative because you think you have a silver bullet graph that you're misinterpreting through a MAGA haze.

[Quicktown Brix]

Why then was inflation 7% under Biden without tariffs. Again, fucktard.

Because of COVID stimulus, Professor.

[rswallen]

It came down with the tariffs which started on day one. That is why you are a fucktard.

That sounds like correlation equals causation.

[Ron]

Trumps Iran campaign was the blunder. many were willing to try the tarrif route but with the Iran blunder it just tip the scales. Of course Rhinos refused to even help so it is entirely republicans fault for this and unfortunately it is going to hurt and the debt will increase exponentially along with more Illegals and California is pretty much a lost cause now

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Difficulty, every dem led military action the last 20 years.

[mtrueman]

" Iran was the dumbest thing the 'no war' president has done."

It succeeded in removing Donald Trump's business and friendship with Jeff Epstein from public discussion. Even today, do a search for Mr. Epstein or mention of Mr. Trump raping girls. You won't find anything. The war on Iran, on the other hand, still has the support of some 30% of the American public, and overwhelming support of Israel's Jewish population.

[damikesc]

Yes, it removed a fiction from public discussion.

[mtrueman]

You're one of the stooges who's allowed Donald Trump to convince you that he's not a rapist, the war on Iran was a wise and necessary choice, and that Jeff Epstein is a fiction.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

What about due process? Where is his criminal conviction on rape?

[mtrueman]

Due process? Look where due process got Jeff Epstein, strangled to death in a squalid New York prison cell. You think Donald Trump is gaga enough to entrust his fate to due process?

[Purple Martin]

After years of receiving more due process than any other human being in America (beginning with the due process provided and enforced by Merrick Garland), U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan clarified that while the civil jury found Donald Trump liable for sexual abuse—specifically involving forcible digital penetration—rather than "rape" under New York's narrow penal statute, the conduct met the broader, common definition of rape.

The key distinctions in the legal proceedings include:

• The New York Penal Law Definition: At the time of the trial, New York's criminal statute defined "rape" strictly as forcible vaginal penetration by a penis. Because the jury found Trump liable for forcible digital penetration (penetration with fingers) rather than a penis, they checked the box for "sexual abuse" rather than "rape" under that specific state law.

• The Jury's Verdict: In the May 2023 civil suit (Carroll II), a federal jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation against E. Jean Carroll, awarding her $5 million in damages.

• Judge Kaplan's Clarification: When Trump's legal team later argued that Carroll defamed him by publicly describing the act as rape, Judge Kaplan rejected the argument. He explained the jury's finding of forcible digital penetration constitutes rape in everyday common usage, in many other state and federal legal definitions, and under standard dictionary definitions.

Consequently, the judge ruled that Carroll's statements were "substantially true" and dismissed Trump's counterclaim.

• Appeals: Trump's challenges and appeals regarding the verdict and rulings were subsequently rejected by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

[See.More]

[...] Where is his criminal conviction on rape?

After years of receiving more due process than any other human being in America (beginning with the due process provided and enforced by Merrick Garland), U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan clarified that while the civil jury found Donald Trump liable for sexual abuse...

Uh. A "civil jury" in a civil suit, not a criminal conviction. Note, the burden of proof is a "preponderance of evidence" (i.e. convince the jury that it is highly plausible that it happened) vs. "beyond a reasonable doubt" (i.e. convince the jury that there is no doubt about it).

[rswallen]

Note, the burden of proof is a "preponderance of evidence" (i.e. convince the jury that it is highly plausible that it happened)

Even that makes the burden sound higher than it was. I've always understood it to just mean more likely than not (ie 50% plus a feather)

[Purple Martin]

I see you fell for the goalpost-jumping. The original argument was

:
mtrueman 5 hours ago
You're one of the stooges who's allowed Donald Trump to convince you that he's not a rapist, the war on Iran was a wise and necessary choice, and that Jeff Epstein is a fiction.

TrickyVic (old school) 5 hours ago
What about due process? Where is his criminal conviction on rape?

So, watch Vic hoist the goalpost onto his back, begging the question by redefining the act of rape as only something resulting in criminal conviction.

In the real world, however Trump was not brought up criminal charges of rape, but to federal court to pay for his undoubted (by the jury) rape of E. Jean Carroll. The jury indeed found Trump's act of forcible digital penetration was, in everyday common usage, in many other state and federal legal definitions, and under standard dictionary definitions, Rape, and then of defamation. The original court-ordered compensation of 5$ has now ballooned to $83 million due to Trump's continued defiance of federal court orders.

[Medulla Oblongata]

Please, Democrats, pass Medicare for all on Day 1.

I will be going full Galt if that happens and since I'm able to go for several years on cash reserves without an income, will sign up for every limited-income program! Gonna get me some EBT money and free insurance! Paying zero taxes! What a world!

[Spiritus Mundi]

People in my state demanded medicaid expansion and Republican super majorities in both chambers passed it.

Now they complain schools aren't being funded.

At least they passed caps on income tax and property tax increases.

Voters sure do understand the issues.

[mtrueman]

"Now they complain schools aren't being funded."

At least they aren't whining our elections are underfunded. The Internet tells me this election cost $12,000,000,000. I haven't heard a peep from anyone telling us we need to increase spending.

[chemjeff radical individualist]

Go right ahead. I strongly encourage all of you all who think living on welfare is "the easy life" to just go do it. If it is such a piece of cake with free money, then why isn't everyone doing it? You will never change your mind unless it directly impacts you, so this is how it is done.

[Don't look at me! ( Is the war over yet?)]

Approximately 52 million people (about 21% of the U.S. population) participate in major means-tested government assistance programs each month.

Not everyone, but a lot are doing it.

[Ron]

Our government has essentially forced people to need that assistance. and that has been the governments goal for a long time now to keep us in line and keep voting for them

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

How were they forced?

[Chuck P. (Now with less Sarc more snark)]

They were forced by comparative advantage. 50% of subsidized housing in the US is occupied by supposedly contributing immigrants. People are forced to take every perk for which they qualify just to stay even.

[Idaho-Bob]

I'm opening a Somali Daycare in Washington.

If I'm gonna do fraud, I'm gonna do fraud the Democrats defend/ignore.

[chemjeff radical individualist]

Go ahead. See what happens.

If I'm right, you'll end up like James O'Keefe, arrested for voter fraud because he thought it is so super-easy to commit voter fraud in Minnesota.

If you're right, you'll be swimming in dough and living the easy life!

And I can't possibly be right, since I'm just a filthy Marxist according to you. So, what are you waiting for?

[Purple Martin]

Pretty sure he's my old muttering Uncle Bob (I'm 72, so he's really old).

Though it could by one of my more than 100 first cousins living in the Treasure Valley (where my Mother & Father and their parents were born), Lewiston (where I was born), Spirit Lake, and Magic Valley (where I went to high school and college). (And let's not even get into the 2nd cousins.)

[Idaho-Bob]

O'Keefe wasn't arrested.

Lying Jeffy been attending the Learing Center.

[Purple Martin]

Hi Uncle Bob!

Right-wing activist James O’Keefe charged with unlawful voting, identity theft
by: Sarah Davis | (The Hill)

Conservative influencer James O’Keefe was charged in Minnesota Wednesday after he and fellow right-leaning commentator Cam Higby misrepresented themselves at a polling place during the state’s primary election earlier this year.

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty announced during a press conference the two men are facing felony unlawful voting and identity fraud charges.
…
Moriarty pointed to felony penalties associated with improperly signing this oath as a “strong deterrent for people not to misuse the vouching process.”
“There are safeguards here,” she said. “If you sign that oath and you are lying about it or misrepresenting it, it is a felony.”

[damikesc]

I have zero debt, my house is fully paid for. It won't be much of a challenge.

[EISTAU Gree-Vance]

Lol. Yeah, that’s a terrible idea, but it would definitely move my retirement timeline closer to today.

I read about all the people who just “left the workforce” after the great recession and again after the pandemic, and I think “how the fuck does that work?”

Well, I guess we might be about to find out. Bring it, progtards. Haha.

[Sandra (formerly OBL)]

Hey what ever became of that commenter whose TDS was so severe that she said a competent GOP would have nominated someone other than Trump in 2024?

Was that the same person who believed the prediction markets when they said Republicans in Texas were in serious danger of losing to Pastor "God Is Non-Binary"?

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Hey what became of a once good poster who tried to claim was right on Paxton but missed that the rest of texas also went blue? Meaning her complaint was meaningless?

[Sandra (formerly OBL)]

OK, Mr. "Paxton will win by 5," it appears Republicans' humiliating defeat in Texas was not *purely* the result of Paxton being a terrible candidate ........ it was also the result of a terrible environment for the GOP because Trump did dumb shit that a competent POTUS wouldn't have done.

[mad.casual]

Hey what ever became of that commenter whose TDS was so severe that she said a competent GOP would have nominated someone other than Trump in 2024?

Is that the same commenter who consistently insisted in full-on sarcasmic style that they don't have TDS, went away after making predictions about Biden and Ukraine that were argued and proved wrong *at the time*, and is now back when it's suddenly convenient to point to the an instance of bashing Trump that totally nobody else has been doing for the last decade?

Thanks for stopping by to let us know that the one prediction you made, which just happened to agree with all the other leftist commentary everywhere else, was 20/20 in hindsight.

Are you going to tell us how much money you made off your prediction market bets too or do we all just get to guess?

[mad.casual]

How apropos:

Purple Martin 20 minutes ago
"If we nominate Trump, we will get destroyed…and we will deserve it."
—U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on Twitter on May 3, 2016.

Our fault for not listening to you, Lindsey Graham, and Purple Martin for the last decade. No apologies.

[Sandra (formerly OBL)]

"predictions about Biden and Ukraine that were argued and proved wrong *at the time*"

I said Biden was probably not stupid enough to send American soldiers to their deaths in Ukraine. Tell me how many US troops were killed in action in Ukraine in 2024, and how this (apparently substantial) number was used in the GOP's messaging that year?

And you keep ignoring my one truly embarrassing prediction, because it contradicts the "TDS" narrative. You remember which one I'm talking about, right? It's the prediction that failed because it was based on excessively pro-Trump assumptions: I did not think Trump was stupid enough to drag us into an unpopular war with Iran. I was 100% wrong about that.

[Spiritus Mundi]

Democrat Abdul El-Sayed beat Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan, becoming the first Muslim in the U.S. Senate (and adding to the growing socialistic coalition in Congress).

Socialist and muslims have more power in America then libertarians.

Perhaps the socialists without the free stuff platform needs to change.

[Medulla Oblongata]

Because skin color is the most important thing...and black people can't be racists...

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/bobby-burack-the-anti-white-resistance-is-already-beginning-for-cooper-flagg/ar-AA2gC3W4?uxmode=ruby

Cooper Flagg is White. For some members of the basketball community, that is a problem. Former NBA player Charlie Villanueva is one of them.

Villanueva discussed Flagg’s rising stardom on the "To The Baha" podcast last week. According to Villanueva, Flagg cannot become the face of the NBA because of his skin color.

"This might sound crazy, but I don’t think in 2026 a White dude could be, I’m gonna be real, could be the face of the league, if I’m being honest," Villanueva said. "Because it’s a Black league, right?"

The hysteria surrounding Caitlin Clark began with the claim that her popularity and stardom resulted from "White privilege." Black players have called Luka Doncic a "bitch ass white boy" on the court. ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins falsely accused NBA MVP voters of favoring Nikola Jokic because he is white, likely costing him the award in 2023.

More recently, Stephen A. Smith claimed a team could not win a championship built around white players. Former broadcaster Mark Jones has posted several bigoted messages about Jokic. Gilbert Arenas has joked about exiling white players from the league.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

It shouldn't, but it does, amaze me at the stupidity of the electorate at the hands of lies and narratives.

Post exit polling says the economy was king, and voters blamed trump. This requires a complete ignorance to economics, like Eric, and seeing normal CPI growth under Trump while ignoring triple the growth under Biden just 6 years ago. But the media lied and pushed narratives. A belief growth is stagnant, requiring one to ignore GDP growth, domestic investment, real wage growth. All on false narratives and lies, pushed even by Reason. The tariffpocalypse to ignore reality.

Then the false affordability message. That dems would help costs. Yet in every answer to their solution it was tax more, spend more, regulate more, and even nationalize companies.

Amazing the lies idiots fall for.

Since last night we've seen the Dem priorities all over X.

Lawfare (arrest any and all conservatives)
Raise taxes
Reinstate USAID
Medicare for all
Energy/data center regulations
Stop deportations
Stop investigations into fraud (yes this was literally being said last night)
Retiring federal workers
Undoing all the cuts
Ending the DOGE program audit software identifying tens if billions in fraud.
Student loan bailouts
Censorship
Amnesty for new voters

And reason largely helped push the myth of the affordable moderate.

Ironically reason will find a way to blame trump for Congress passed spending bills still, just like they cheered the lawsuits against cuts to government.

Now watch all those claiming not to be democrats (chitard, sarc, tony, reason) cheer the election last night as a good thing despite the open statements by the Victor's.

Even saw chitard claim in the other thread that dems spent less. Despite vast majority of spending growth being on welfare programs, medicaid/Medicare, etc. While they run on Medicare for all.

Can't help that our electorate is retarded and easily lied to.

Just look at red states and blues states and see the cost and regulatory difference. Yet idiots cant even do first order analysis to see they were lied to.

Will be pointing out to reason what they supported the next 2 years as cuts are undone, taxes go up, spending goes up. They wont learn. They fell for the moderate myth again.

[Murray Rothtard]

Jesse, i know you are hurting right now, but could you try and actually read?

"Even saw chitard claim in the other thread that dems spent less. Despite vast majority of spending growth being on welfare programs, medicaid/Medicare, etc. While they run on Medicare for all."

JFree and I were discussing how much was spent ON THE ELECTION. and it is a fact that Republicans spent more than the dems on this election, so fuck off with that noise, dude. I'm well aware that dems typically have larger budgets than Republicans (but Trump tries hard to buck that trend)

No one fell for any message from the Dems. the dems didn't even need a message beyond "we are not Trump and we'll pull his dick out of your ass." Now the country can try getting fucked by someone else. Trump hurt too much.

(oh yeah, you gonna apologize to the prediction markets for being right?)

[jcw]

So who was president 6 years ago?

[TrickyVic (old school)]

I think the pandemic was.
Politicians were reacting, for better or worse.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Biden was elected which had 2 years of double to triple the inflation we see now?

[TrickyVic (old school)]

Voters don't really care about GDP and CPI ect. They care about how far their paycheck goes.

[chemjeff radical individualist]

EXACTLY.

Trump quote:

“The only thing that matters, when I’m talking about Iran, they can’t have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said. “I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation. I don’t think about anybody. I think about one thing: You cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon.”

He started a war that he said he wouldn't, and now that he is in this mess, he literally said he doesn't give a shit about anything else.

[mad.casual]

Maybe your point, but I'd say they don't even really care about that. They care about how far politicians tell them they'll make it go.

[chemjeff radical individualist]

Alternative explanation:

Trump over-promised and under-delivered.

Trump promised no new wars, promised to fix inflation, promised to lower grocery and energy prices, and did none of those things.

Trump instead decided to start a trade war with Canada and a hot war with Iran. He obsessed over his shiny ballroom and his stupid arch and his idiotic tussles over the Kennedy center while literally telling people that he doesn't give a damn about their concerns over the cost of living.

Trump is an arrogant turd who has an ego the size of the Milky Way. He cares about nothing but himself and now more people finally realize this.

[Murray Rothtard]

save some of occam's razors for the rest of us man.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Lol. My favorite cry of the midwit. Take a complex discussion and pretend it can be a simple explanation no matter how many times said explanation is proven wrong or fails in prediction. Always hilarious to see. Dedication to being simple minded.

Just trained seals repeating the popular narratives. Because it is easy, not right.

[Murray Rothtard]

doesn't surprise me in the least that you need convoluted nonsensical conspiracy as your guidepost.

it's been a rough day Jesse. Maybe you should hire someone to give you a hug.

[Quicktown Brix]

Yeah, this is the best summary of the midterms I've seen.

[Dillinger]

except eCongress.

[Quicktown Brix]

That went over my head.

[Dillinger]

T's failed deliveries land at Johnson's & Thune's doormats.

Iran going sideways in any way was JD's gang - Tucker, Kent, Green, Rogan, Von, Gaetz

so jeff can try to lay it at T's feet but no Kings ... so eCongress.

[Quicktown Brix]

Gotcha

[Medulla Oblongata]

I guess it's a good thing he won then...

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/asra-nomani-muslim-reformers-reject-fire-will-rise-warning-if-el-sayed-loses-as-jihad-first/ar-AA2gGUpw

On Monday, Ali drew fire on X when he wrote: "If, God forbid, Abdul loses, this will be a watershed moment in Democratic politics. The fire will rise. It’s over. People will be radicalized against corporate, pro-Israel Dems. There will be a reckoning. If, when, he wins, it will be a watershed moment. And that reckoning will still come."

After facing backlash, Ali posted another message Tuesday morning, expressing no regrets and instead scolding critics for alleged bigotry. "Ah, that Islamophobia and anti-Arab bigotry are so pure and naked," Ali wrote. "People are just coming out in the open about how they’ve always felt. Great. Please, be honest. Just share the ugliness with the world so we can all see."

[mad.casual]

Sane person: "I like pancakes not being burned in a fire."
Ali: "If we lose, you will be forced to eat waffles burned in a fire."
Sane person: "I prefer not to eat waffles be burned in a fire."
Ali: "Then why do you hate Islam?"

Western Enlightenment is gone. We're "back" to the "burn everyone who weighs as much as a duck" ages (on the wrong side).

[Spiritus Mundi]

Down in North Carolina, former Gov. Roy Cooper became the first Democrat to win a Senate race in the state since 2008.

As governor he forcibly arrested re-open NC protesters while allowing BLM to loot and burn cities.

I am sure he will be a voice of Reeeeeason in the senate.

[damikesc]

Well, he will be a voice of Reason, this site, there. They supported such policies.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Hey man. That happened half a decade ago.

[mad.casual]

Fucking Conservative Cancel Culture.

[Don't look at me! ( Is the war over yet?)]

*voice of Kent “Flounder” Dorfman*

“Oh boy, this is gonna be great!”

[Moderation4ever]

The number of flips, particularly in moderate to conservative areas suggest that the Democrats in control will be more moderate. The Size of the win gives Democrats more opportunity to leave a few votes on the table. This is a huge set back for Republicans and a minor set back for the DSA candidates.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

""The Size of the win gives Democrats more opportunity to leave a few votes on the table.""

That would make more sense if dems won more than 60 seats. POTUS can veto.

They may need to be more moderate to avoid a veto.

[Moderation4ever]

Why do parties that control the Congress avoid making their President use the veto? The veto has a cost, particularly if the legislation is popular.

[damikesc]

What proposals are going to be popular?

Trump should advise them that there is a law on how budgets are to be passed and no continuing resolutions will be signed any longer.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Eric would blame him for it.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

""Why do parties that control the Congress avoid making their President use the veto?""

Trump will not be in the party that controls Congress.

Who will pay the cost of a Trump veto? Trump?

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Tends to have a higher monetary cost when popular dummy.

[Mickey Rat]

No, it won't. Look ar what happened in Virginia last year.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Lol. Speaking of continued myths of the moderate.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

[TrickyVic (old school)]

I foresee the dems complaining about Trump being an obstructionist to their agenda as he uses his veto power.

But we have a mandate, they will cry.

[Moderation4ever]

No. Democrats will use the veto to make Trump stop popular legislation and salting the ground for the 2028 Republican nominee.

[Don't look at me! ( Is the war over yet?)]

Just above you stated they will avoid the veto.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Trump is blamed either way.

[mtrueman]

"Data centers in space looking pretty appealing right now"

Not if you look closely. Powering and cooling them is about as feasible as colonizing Mars.

The International Space Station (ISS) is a reality check. It has separate solar panels, ammonia thermal-control loops, and rotating radiator wings. NASA's external active thermal control system rejects 70 kilowatts of waste heat through radiator wings weighing about 7 metric tons. Scale ISS-style hardware to the modest 1 megawatt data centre, and the mass is punishing: roughly 100 tons of radiators alone. By comparison, 1 megawatt of cutting-edge AI compute racks is on the order of 10 tons. That is the economic knife edge: the radiators alone could weigh close to ten times more than the compute hardware. Since launch cost scales with mass, cooling could impose an order-of-magnitude launch-cost penalty, before the first token is generated.

Musk is talking about terawatt compute racks, a million times the power of those mentioned above.

[Don't look at me! ( Is the war over yet?)]

I feel certain you know more about this stuff than musk does.

[mtrueman]

Musk just spend about half a billion trying and failing to buy himself a senator. I spent nothing. It's time you sober up and take a second look. Simply put, terawatt sized data centers orbiting the planet is not impossible. Just impracticable. Colonizing Mars on the other hand is impossible. You need to exercise skepticism towards anyone who insists otherwise.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

Will this put an end to the money can buy elections claim?

[mtrueman]

Only if there is zero spending on elections in 2028. ie I wouldn't bet on it. I also wouldn't bet on massive data centers orbiting the planet. The engineering problems of powering and cooling them are all but insurmountable. Now, if someone could come up with a data center that didn't need to be powered or cooled, you might be on to something. But in that case, we could put them on the surface of the Earth, without going to the trouble of blasting them into space.

[Eeyore]

Cheaper to build them in a different country.

[Michael Ejercito]

Here is Jack Marshall's take.

https://ethicsalarms.com/2026/11/04/why-cant-the-stupid-party-figure-out-how-to-appeal-to-stupid-voters-and-other-ethics-observations-on-the-mid-terms/

[MWAocdoc]

"overextrapolating and believing last night's wins are indicative of a paradigm shift is unwise"

Swingdancing was a short-live social phase. Swingvoting, on the other hand, is a perennial favorite.

[MWAocdoc]

"It's just a point in time, Bret. Just a point in time. It's the way it is. There was a mood in the air, I guess."

Trump don't care. Trump don't HAVE ta care. Trump da prezidink!

[MWAocdoc]

Sorry for the loss of your grandmother, Liz.

[MWAocdoc]

"preschools that cannot participate in the state's universal pre-K program"

The solution is simple: eliminate the state's universal pre-K program. Eliminate all tax-funded education programs.

[damikesc]

Indeed. And if the government shuts down, the FIRST thing Trump should stop funding is the entire federal student loan program. Then fire tons of people.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Not happening now doc. Maybe you should have cheered the cuts that were happening instead of complaining about them.

[Dillinger]

^^

[Purple Martin]

I'm not sure what gives TrickyVic the the slightest idea Trump will be able to sustain a veto on any meaningful piece of legislation in the rest of his presidency

About which, by the way, if someone gives me an over/under of three months, I’ll take the under.

Recall the Speaker adjourned the House more than a month early (’til after the election), rather than allow what by rule had to be the next vote, and still will be the day they gavel back in. So, the first vote of the final session, I believe, will be on R Rep. Massie’s privileged impeachment action—which the de jure (but not de facto) Republican lame-duck House will almost certainly pass on its first day.

Haven’t heard this anywhere else, but I’d strongly consider taking the under on and over/under of Trump's White house tenancy at three weeks after the lame duck session begins later this month. And if that happens, I can easily name 75 current senators who seem likely to vote to convict, including Susan Collins standing by her principles of voting her heart whenever a vote make no difference.

If this House impeaches, I’ll take the overIndependent Redistricting Commission law (Like CA and a dozen other states had before Trump ordered his Dummymander resulting in a net loss of those R seats last night).

Personally, I think they will do the first, might manage the second, and fuck up the third, but I'm hopeful nevertheless.

The clueless Trumpist Republican Class (certainly well-represented here today) will be the migrant lost and alone in a strange land. Perhaps they can take solace in the certain knowledge that in a quest to find a new opportunity in a new home, they will be included in the immigrants treated with far more dignity and and fairness than, say, Abbot, Paxton in Texas (Texas!), Trump, and the citizens of MAGAnistan ever dreamt.

Donald John "I didn't lose! I wasn't even on the ballot" Trump's solace rests only in the knowledge that has been a certainty his entire life:

"I Alone, Could Do That."

[TrickyVic (old school)]

""I'm not sure what gives TrickyVic the the slightest idea Trump will be able to sustain a veto on any meaningful piece of legislation in the rest of his presidency""

He will veto. The dems do not have enough votes to override. Therefore only bills that a few republicans will cross over will get passed.

I'm not saying every bill will get vetoed, or every veto will stand. I am pointing out that as he uses his veto power, dems are going to complain that he is obstructing.

[Purple Martin]

Trump will do well to remember the lessons of Hungary 's Orban. And even more perhaps, Romania's Nicolae Ceaușescu and wife Elena.

When almost everyone relationally and physically close to you, hates you, it's amazing how quickly things can turn around.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Trump isnt running for a third term dumbass.

[Purple Martin]

He's still President for two more months. Look up how Ceaușescu's reign ended.

(Wow have you ever gone downhill since the Volokh Conspiracy's old WaPO days, and you were pretty far down the valley even then).

[JFree]

In California, the proposed billionaire wealth tax seems destined for failure, though final results are not yet in.

The CA version may disappear (as it probably should) - but a wealth tax is absolutely going to reappear when (not if) the AI bubble breaks. It will be the most colossal destruction of capital in history. The entire capex spend was decided on by a handful of tech billionaires who are controlling shareholders (Meta, Tesla, SpaceX, Google, Oracle, CoreWeave, etc) or defacto controlling shareholders (Microsoft, Amazon). Those billionaires chose to piss capital down the toilet rather than pay dividends to other shareholders (who would then have had a choice in how to invest capital) and thus incur taxes on themselves. Those other shareholders HAVE NO ALTERNATIVE because index funds and passive investing have broken capital allocation. And those billionaires will look for a bailout for themselves - at the expense of everyone else - when that AI capex bubble is crushed.

[Dillinger]

geez that's awful I lost my last two grandmas thirteen years ago it never stops hurting. so sorry.

[Purple Martin]

"If we nominate Trump, we will get destroyed…and we will deserve it."
—U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on Twitter on May 3, 2016.

[JesseAz (RIP CK)]

Also "if we just bow the knee to democrats media will like us" Lindsay Graham.

[JFree]

It will be interesting to see whether Republicans—to the extent that they still have power—begin to carve out more independence from the MAGA movement

Only in a few years. They have not a single brain cell in the entirety of Congress. There is no future for any of those incumbents - or the White House/admin itself - at a higher level. In the only significant elections yesterday, they lost governor and state legislature races. So they lost much of their bench - while the D's began to finally restock a bench (for the first time in decades). Those state level incumbents are the ones that will become post-MAGA.

Perversely - Biden is the one who ensured that R's have no post-Trump future. He chose to do the lawfare against Trump but that merely destroyed all those 2024 R candidates not-named-Trump. Those people have no future either

[Purple Martin]

So, who is going to lead the Republican Party after a decade of President Donald Trump?

"Who?" The first question is What…will replace the 2015-2028 Republican Party? My theory of post-Trump Republicanism has three factions vying for the 2028 presidential nomination:

• The New Right
• The TechnoAristocracy
• The Good Republican

1) NEW RIGHT MAGANISTAN. Xenophobic, anti-Semitic, racist, Trump-base MAGA White Identitarian true believers, allied with anti-science/MAHA, Stop-the-Steal, & Q-Anon conspiracists, all painted with a thick coat of White Nationalism and Pope/King theocratic National Conservatism.

Trump Forever! 2028 Presidential Candidate: TUCKER CARLSON seems to have more potential than any of the MAGA politicians.

2) TECHNO-BILLIONAIRE ARISTROCACY. None want to BE president—they want to OWN one. They find MAGAnistani identitarian nativists distasteful, are pro-immigration, and don't mind if tens of millions of useful migrants—a serf class of strong-work-ethic skilled blue-collar labor, plus a tier of intelligent, submissive H1B visa-holders—replacing lazy, dumb Americans—are brown.

TechnoAristrocacy 2028 Presidential Candidate: Wholly Owned Honorary H1B visa-holder JD VANCE.

3) THE GOOD REPUBLICAN. R never-Trumpers like David French & Mitt Romney believe, like The Good German of the 1930s, GOP Normies were temporarily sucked in by the malign black-hole of an evil ideologue, but will return to traditional 1950-2010 Republicanism’s NatSec/Business/Social Issues three-legged-stool.

GOP Normie 2028 Presidential Candidate: Could be a flipped-again Marco Rubio (that's his strongest skill), but my wildcard is far-right but not-MAGA/not-insane, Georgia Gov BRIAN KEMP.
___________

All that makes the R's fight this decade, a metaphorically bloody, entertaining battle of New Right MAGAnistan & TechnoAristocrats tearing each other apart (MAGA hates the TechnoBros who, in return, are utterly contemptuous of MAGA), giving Kemp a good chance to beat both and run against whatever the Democrats turn into by that time.

[mtrueman]

Best case is Thomas Massie coming in from the cold waving his arms with a big 'I told you so' smile on his face. He's still young, untainted from the Trump era, has a presidential air about him, and seems like a decent guy. There are a number of similar Republicans who've over the years fallen by the wayside whose careers could be similarly revived.

[Purple Martin]

Hmmm…not bad! And Margorie Tayer Green as his VP? What do you think they'll call their new party?

[damikesc]

Holy shit, you're actually holding up MTG as a worthwhile candidate?

You're drunk.

[damikesc]

Massie is a clown.

[mtrueman]

The Republicans lost big yesterday. Donald Trump, who despises losers, lost nothing. What are the chances of him doing a Haley Stevens and switching sides, abandoning the losers and positioning himself at the head of the Democrat parade? It would let him finish off his term in glory, perhaps after negotiating a deal that would exempt him from prosecution in exchange for full cooperation with the Democrat agenda. The threats of 'veto' may simply be his opening salvo in negotiations going on in secret now.

I'm just putting out some idle speculation here, but I'm reminded of George W. Bush's last two years after his last mid term, starting off with the firing of Donald Rumsfeld less than a week after the voting. Not to mention a kinder, gentler George Bush, culminating with his signing an agreement to withdraw from Iraq.

[Purple Martin]

Some of the most popular and successful Governors in the last few years have been moderate Republicans, cooperating with the liberal legislators in Blue states like Vermont, Massachusetts, and Maryland, etc.

So you're thinking of Trump doing a Heel Turn? He's familiar with the trope and it could actually work.

[Medulla Oblongata]

So much for "billionaires are buying our elections", unless that's a complaint about Democrat-supporting billionaires. Musk's money didn't do much.

[Mike Parsons]

Ya this one stuck a fork in "voter suppression", billionaires buying elections, and "Elon rigged the voting machines!"

But since they won so big, this will surely be a "this was a free and fair election", until they lose next time, and then it will be Russia collusion, Elon rigged the machines, voter suppression somehow returned, Mossad or something

[mtrueman]

"Musk's money didn't do much."

It motivated a lot of Texans to cast their votes for James Talarico, the eventual winner. We shouldn't put too much into this. Elon Musk has a history of pissing away mbillions needlessly. Remember? He's the one who paid $44,000,000,000 for Twitter.

[Purple Martin]

...in order to influence a whole bunch of heavily influenceable people who are already fully indoctrinated into MAGA.

[Mike Parsons]

"Remember? He's the one who paid $44,000,000,000 for Twitter."

Ya, and it is currently valued at literally the same amount, its a drop in the bucket for him, and it changed the course of discourse, free speech, and maybe won an entire election cycle.

Try and be less of a fucking retard, what a clown tier take lmao

[mtrueman]

"and maybe won an entire election "

So, money does or doesn't influence the results of elections? If you disagree with Medulla Oblongata, address your comments to him/her, not me. And please don't call me a fucking retard. I find it rude and I will mute you if you continue with the gratuitous insults.

[skeptical scientist]

"Voters in Washington appear to be affirming the rights of female student athletes to compete only against athletes of their same sex—which libertarians are divided on, but I firmly support."

Regardless of how you think trans women should be categorized in sports, the libertarian approach is not to have the government mandate categories, but to have individual athletic programs and leagues set their own rules without government interference, so that people can join whichever league matches their views.