It’s just past that time of week again, but here are three excellent video clips from Sam’s show Wednesday night. Enjoy!
It could have been worse.
It’s a definite recount now. Freya will be busy.
There really is a solution for Cruz… FLUSH!!
Sorry for the delay in getting these to you.
Please pardon my brevity. It’s one of those days. I’m as busy as a hooker at a Republican pseudo-Christian convention.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:44 (average 5:53). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): Donald Trump Hand-Picked Acting-AG Raises New Obstruction Questions (20 min.)
I hope someone is filing a legal action to prevent Whitaker from keeping the office. RESIST!!
From NY Times: What now seems an eternity ago, the conservative law professor Steven Calabresi published an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal in May arguing that Robert Mueller’s appointment as special counsel was unconstitutional. His article got a lot of attention, and it wasn’t long before President Trump picked up the argument, tweeting that “the Appointment of the Special Counsel is totally UNCONSTITUTIONAL!”
Professor Calabresi’s article was based on the Appointments Clause of the Constitution, Article II, Section 2, Clause 2. Under that provision, so-called principal officers of the United States must be nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate under its “Advice and Consent” powers.
He argued that Mr. Mueller was a principal officer because he is exercising significant law enforcement authority and that since he has not been confirmed by the Senate, his appointment was unconstitutional. As one of us argued at the time, he was wrong. What makes an officer a principal officer is that he or she reports only to the president. No one else in government is that person’s boss. But Mr. Mueller reports to Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general. So, Mr. Mueller is what is known as an inferior officer, not a principal one, and his appointment without Senate approval was valid.
But Professor Calabresi and Mr. Trump were right about the core principle. A principal officer must be confirmed by the Senate. And that has a very significant consequence today.
It means that Mr. Trump’s installation of Matthew Whitaker as acting attorney general of the United States after forcing the resignation of Jeff Sessions is unconstitutional. It’s illegal. And it means that anything Mr. Whitaker does, or tries to do, in that position is invalid.
Click through for much more. If it was legal, Republicans would not do it. RESIST!!
From The New Yorker: Donald J. Trump warned on Wednesday that a caravan of Democratic women was heading toward Washington, D.C., with the explicit goal of invading the nation’s capital.
Speaking at a press conference at the White House, Trump acknowledged that he had failed in his bid to stop the caravan, which is on schedule to arrive in Washington on January 3, 2019.
“The Democrats are responsible for sending this caravan, and, frankly, it’s a disgrace,” he said. “They are sending some dangerous women.”
Elaborating on the threat posed by the caravan, Trump said, “Some of these women have fought in wars. They have fired guns. One of them is a mixed-martial-arts specialist. These are women who will kick your ass without hesitating.”
Amen Andy! May the caravan keep growing! RESIST!!
Cartoon:
Make no mistake about it, despite the Faux “news” (sic) blathering and Twitler’s mendacious claim that it was “close to a complete victory” (and when was the last time that man-child told the truth?) – it was most definitely a Blue Wave election.
Being truthful, we can admit that it was not the Blue Tsunami that we had all been hoping for. But it was also NOT a Blue Ripple like RepubliKKKlans are trying to spin it. Let’s get down to the nitty gritty and count the ways it does add up to a beautiful Blue Wave.
But I’m going to need your help doing that. There was so much good news on Tuesday (along with some very disappointing news, like Beto’s loss) that I’m sure I’ll miss out on some of the news. So I hope you will add the ones I forget in your Comments.
[MAJOR CAVEAT: As we know, votes are still being counted (even though republicans actually SUED in an effort to STOP votes from being counted). And totals are generally moving in Democrats’ favor. So numbers and results are not final]
Let’s begin with the “Big Picture” and look at the general trend in the 2018 Midterm. And to do that we’ll use the House of Representatives results since it was the only fully national election:
Little too confusing? Let’s break it down to first show Districts that became “Redder” – of which there were a couple dozen:
Now let’s look at a map showing districts that became “Bluer” – of which there were at least 317!
Even better news, let’s take a look just within those Districts that elected RepubliKKKlans – and show with a graph if they generally became “Redder” or “Bluer”.
Yup – 171 Districts, while electing RepuliKKKlans, still moved to the Left!
[Above graphics from “The New York Times”]
So to summarize, Nate Silver of 538 anticipates Democrats will have taken 34 seats in the House – well above the 23 needed to gain control
Democrats currently lead the popular vote in the U.S. House by about 6 million votes or 6% of the vote. Likely to rise to around 8 million votes and 7-8% once all votes are counted.
The final Rasmussen Reports poll said REPUBLICANS would win the popular vote. @Rasmussen_Poll
And Prof. Sam Wang of the Princeton University Election Consortium is even more optimistic, showing that while it may not be the largest “Wave” in history – it certainly qualifies as a Wave:
The NYT currently projects a national popular-vote margin of D+9.2%. The largest popular margin since 2008, larger than waves of 1994, 2006, 2010, 2014.
1994: R+7.1%
2006: D+8.0%
2008: D+10.6%
2010: R+7.2%
2014: R+5.7%By historical standards, this a popular wave. pic.twitter.com/4hw71hieVN
— Sam Wang (@SamWangPhD) November 7, 2018
But the good news didn’t just come from the national level – it occurred at the state level, too!
America now has 45 Million MORE Americans living under unified control by Democrats from winning the Trifecta of Governor and both houses in the state legislatures! Not only did they gain full control in six new states — Colorado, Illinois, Maine, New Mexico, Nevada and New York — but they also broke the GOP’s total hold in Kansas, Michigan, New Hampshire and Wisconsin by winning control of at least one Chamber or Governor’s chair.
Broken down, that includes at least seven governorships and at least six legislative chambers.
And all of this was accomplished by expanding the Democratic Tent – setting historic records for electing women, minorities and LGBTQ candidates – including electing the first openly gay governor in Colorado. Maybe it was more of a “Rainbow Wave” than a Blue Wave.
But the good news didn’t stop with just our candidates – it extended to ballot measures and initiatives across the country.
Voters in Michigan, Colorado, and Missouri (busting with pride here) all approved ballot initiatives to end political Gerrymandering, with approval rates from 60 percent to more than 70 percent!
Two states voted to increase their minimum wages requirements – Arkansas and Missouri (even prouder still)! Both Utah and Missouri (OK – I’ll quit) approved the use of medical marijuana, while Michigan went a step further approving its recreational use. And voters surprisingly approved Medicaid expansion in the ruby-red states of Idaho, Nebraska, and Utah. Plus the newly elected governors of Maine and Kansas pledged to not veto similar measures that had already passed but were blocked by their predecessors. And voting rights were restored to felons who had paid their dues in Florida.
[This pretty much covers the above paragraph]
And for a cherry-on-top (I’m counting on you guys to add even more cherries that I missed in your Comments), that Bible-thumping hypocrite and homophobic clerk in Kentucky who refused to issue Marriage Licenses to gay couples – Kim Davis – lost her election!
While we should take a bit of time to enjoy our Blue Wave victories, we then need to start working on turning that Blue Wave into productive policies for America!
I had to get up an hour early this morning to be in the lobby for the Lift Bus at 7:30. I’ll post Sam’s videos tomorrow. Off to my appointment.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 4:26 (average 5:42). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Take:
From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): Panicked By Democrats, Donald Trump Installs Loyalist To Top DoJ Spot
I’m sure I’ll have more to say about this obstruction in coming days, after I have the time to get a better handle on it. RESIST!!
Cartoon:
I apologize for the cliche title, But I had no plans to post today, and the WordPress format for entering drafts says, “What’s on your mind?” and I couldn’t resist.
I know Freya knows all this and will publicize it widely, but she can’t reach everyone in the state, not even every Democrat in the state, and if there’s any way we can help, we want to – we did endorse Stacey and would again. So, without further ado, here’s a complete email from Al Pearson at Better Georgia dot org on what to do NOW before the runoffs gets started.
This election has been a wild ride. And now, it looks like we’ll all be on this ride a while longer. There will be runoff elections on December 4, 2018. The question is how many.
The governor’s race between Stacey Abrams and Brian Kemp is too close to call. There are still enough uncounted absentee and mail-in ballots to push this race into a runoff.
It looks very likely that there will be a runoff between Democrat John Barrow and Republican Brad Raffensberger for secretary of state, the all-important office which oversees Georgia’s elections.
And it appears equally likely that Democrat Lindy Miller will force a runoff in the Public Service Commission District 3 race, which would break the Republican stranglehold on the commission.
If you’ve voted absentee, go to the Secretary of State website right now. Check your absentee ballot status and make sure that the status reads “accepted.” If it doesn’t, call (866) OUR-VOTE right away and explain the issue.
We’ll be sure to keep you up-to-date on our Facebook page as soon as we know more about the Governor, Secretary of State, Public Service Commission and state legislative races.
But here are just a few highlights from last night:
- This was Georgia’s closest governor’s race in Georgia since 1994.
- Democrats have taken control of the U.S. Congress, providing a much-needed check on Trump’s power.
- It looks likely that progressive Lucy McBath will defeat conservative Karen Handel, flipping Georgia’s 6th Congressional District.
- Democrats have flipped State House and State Senate seats across Georgia, winning in places that have been conservative strongholds for years.
Thank you for everything you’ve done to help increase progressive voter turnout. Whether you’ve knocked on doors, phonebanked, brought friends and family to the polls or just shared critical information on social media, YOU are the reason we have made real headway in races conservatives never thought they could lose.
When we work together, it scares conservatives. They know that they are losing their unearned grip on political power. They tilt the playing field, they move the goalposts, they put up roadblocks. But their political cheating is going to come to an end. What we do in the next 27 days truly matters.
While campaigns come and go, Better Georgia has been working around the clock for the last seven years. There are no “off years” for us. We know there are going to more battles to fight — some are just around the corner.
Sincerely,
Al Pearson
Interim Executive Director, Better GeorgiaBetter Georgia
P.O. Box 1982
Athens, GA 30603-1982
info@bettergeorgia.org
706-410-1867
Cross posted to Care2 HERE
I tend to be a perfectionist, so there are a lot of things about the 2018 elections that I would change, if I could. I really hoped Beto and Gillum would win. The worst of it is the big Republican success in the Senate. It looks like we will have a couple years in which to RESIST will be more important than ever.
Democrats harnessed voter fury toward President Trump to win control of the House and capture pivotal governorships Tuesday night as liberals and moderates banded together to deliver a forceful rebuke of Mr. Trump, even as Republicans held on to their Senate majority by claiming a handful of conservative-leaning seats.
The two parties each had some big successes in the states. Republican governors were elected in Ohio and Florida, two important battlegrounds in Mr. Trump’s 2020 campaign calculations. Democrats beat Gov. Scott Walker, the Wisconsin Republican and a top target, and captured the governor’s office in Michigan — two states that Mr. Trump carried in 2016 and where the left was looking to rebound.
Propelled by an unusually high turnout that illustrated the intensity of the backlash against Mr. Trump, Democrats claimed at least 26 House seats on the strength of their support in suburban and metropolitan districts that were once bulwarks of Republican power but where voters have recoiled from the president’s demagoguery on race.
Early Wednesday morning Democrats clinched the 218 House seats needed to take control. There were at least 15 additional tossup seats that had yet to be called…
Inserted from <NY Times>
This is a very long article with a ton of information. Click through to get it.
The current count in the Senate is 45 – 51 with probable Republican wins in the other four. With 45 – 55 split, the Senate will be a Republican judge factory for two years.
On the plus side, we flipped six statehouses.
I’m exhausted.
Store to Door delivered my groceries earlier. They screwed them up so badly, that I’m trying to get ahold of WWWendy to make an emergency stop on the way here tonight. Keep your eyes on DOJ. Jeff Sessions (R-KKK) just resigned. Tomorrow, please expect no more than a Personal Update. I have a routine semi-annual appointment with my Pulmonologist.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 4:05 (average 5:27). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From YouTube (Oregonian Channel): Kate Brown talks to reporters after re-election
Here in Oregon, I got everything I wanted, except for 1 House Seat that is perennially red. RESIST!!
From YouTube (Robert Reich Channel): Robert Reich: It’s Time for Medicare for All
Of course the Reich on the left, Robert Reich, is right, and the Reich on the right, the Republican Reich, wants to push Granny off a cliff. We can pass it in the House next year. The Republicans will vote it down in the Senate and be on record for doing so. RESIST!!
From Alternet: President Donald Trump sent out a celebratory tweet Tuesday night after it became clear that his party would maintain control of the U.S. Senate — but completely ignoring the fact that Democrats have won control of the House of Representatives.
As CNN’s Wolf Blitzer was giving the president for the win, Jake Tapper cut in to throw cold water on the celebration.
"Let’s just cut through that for a second," Tapper said. "He just lost the House."
"But he did manage to hold on to the Senate," said Blitzer.
"I know. And mavel tov," said Tapper. "But the bottom line is: This is not a good night for President Trump. The Democrats have just retaken the House, and they’re going to have subpoena power, and they’re going to make his life a living hell."
I can’t wait! RESIST!!
Cartoon:
It’s not quite that time of week again, but here are three excellent video clips from Sam’s show last night. Enjoy!
Listen to Sam! Vote!!
Vote for a Democrat for Dawg Catcher and work up the ticket!
Get Your Fudgin’ Money Out of My Democracy!
Money is NOT speech. Corporations are NOT people. Corporations ARE corrupt and greedy!
Thanks Sam