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You are here: Home / Open Threads / A Few Thoughts About What Comes Next Despite the Election Results

A Few Thoughts About What Comes Next Despite the Election Results

by Adam L Silverman|  November 7, 20183:20 pm| 136 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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Despite the results of the mid-term election, we need to think about a few important things. Specifically what happens next. The Democrats had a very good night, regardless of the hot takes. They had the largest mid-term electoral swing since 2008, bigger than the Tea Party wave in 2010. The Democrats have retaken the House of Representatives. As of right now given that Georgia is still out, the Democrats have retaken 7 governors’ mansions, flipped 7 state legislative chambers, and flipped 333 state legislative seats. The Democrats have also wiped out all the local Republican control in both Dallas and Houston. There are also a lot of other local successes, such as the redistricting referendum in Michigan, referendums on automatic voter registration in a number of states, and the reenfranchisement amendment in Florida. While the Democrats weren’t able to thread the needle and retake the Senate, last night, overall was a good night and the few outstanding high profile races that we’re watching are close enough that there may still be further positive gains.

Unfortunately, we need to be prepared for backlash. The reason for this is simple: the President and his supporters – the base of the Republican Party – are both sore losers and sore winners. I’m not even sure it is possible to work out whether they’re sorer losers or sorer winners. The good news is that because the Republicans lost the House, at least 7 governors’ mansions, 7 state legislatures, and 333 state legislative states overall, we’ve got some breathing room. It is now much, much, much harder for the President and the Republican Party he has fully remade in his image to accelerate what they have been doing over the past two years. Additional tax cuts, another attempt to repeal the ACA, and an effort to get rid of Social Security and Medicare are now all off the table. The chances that Special Counsel Mueller’s investigations will be interfered with, let alone shut down, have significantly decreased. And while the anti-immigrant, anti-ethnic minority, anti-religious minority, and anti-LGBTQ actions taken by the executive branch will continue, there is both a legislative branch check on them through House oversight, as well as a check in the states where Democrats have taken the governors’ mansions. And those Democratic governors, state legislatures, and the overall increase in Democratic state legislatures will be an important check on attempts to further gerrymander state and Federal legislative districts. Finally, the attempt to fully transform Congress into a subordinate arm of the executive branch has failed, though the GOP majority controlled Senate will still slavishly go along with what ever the President wants.

Because the President and his supporters are both sore losers and sore winners, they were guaranteed to act out whatever happened with the 2018 mid-term election. And, unfortunately, I expect that some of that acting out will be violent. And this is really what we need to be thinking about despite these very good electoral outcomes. Specifically those of us who are white and straight need to be thinking about what we’re going to do to protect those who are not. Especially those who are visible ethnic minorities (people of color), visible religious minorities (because of religiously required apparel), and visibly identifiable LGBTQ people. Some of this protection will now come at the state level because of the 7 new Democratic governors, 7 new majority Democratic state legislatures, and the Democratic increases in other state legislatures that allow them to block harmful legislation. However, a lot of what will need to be done to protect visible ethnic minorities, visible religious minorities, visibly identifiable LGBTQ people are not going to need to be done in relation to Federal or state legislation or regulation. Rather, it is going to be directed by our fellow citizens, individually and in groups, at visible ethnic minorities, visible religious minorities, visibly identifiable LGBTQ people. As a result, those of us who are white and straight need to begin thinking about what we’re able to do, what we’re willing to do, and under what circumstances we’re willing to do it in regard to protecting our ethnic minority, religious minority, and LGBTQ neighbors.

I hate to have to think this, let alone write it, but we have reached a point in the US where regardless of who wins or loses any given election, we need to be aware that significant numbers of our fellow Americans – citizens, legal residents, and even undocumented – are at significant risk. And the threat is coming from inside the house, from other Americans! It is far better to think about how much risk we are willing to assume in the protection of our fellow Americans who are at risk now, rather than having to just react without reflection in the moment. Are you comfortable and willing to use your smart phone to videotape an unfortunate interaction to make sure there is a clear record? Are you comfortable and willing to say something to an aggressive and abusive person? Are you comfortable and willing to put yourself bettwen an aggressive and abusive person and their victim?

The President’s off the cuff, free wheeling, and frankly bizarre press conference today demonstrates the danger that America in general, and the most vulnerable Americans in specific, still faces.

As Norm Ornstein and Jim Manley remarked shortly after the press conference:

It cannot be said too often: A 71-year-old narcissistic autocratic sociopath cannot and will not change. Put him in a stressful situation and it is dangerous for all of us

— Norman Ornstein (@NormOrnstein) November 7, 2018

https://twitter.com/jamespmanley/status/1060226906753249288

Stay alert! Stay focused! Stay alive!

Open thread.

* I had originally starting drafting this post last night. I stopped and decided to hold off finishing it and publishing it till today, if I finished and published it at all. Given the President’s press conference, as well as the termination of Jeff Sessions as Attorney General, I decided it needed to be finished and published.

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Previous Post: « Breaking: Jeff Sessions Has Been Fired as Attorney General
Next Post: Election Post-Mortem, WV Edition »

Reader Interactions

136Comments

  1. 1.

    TenguPhule

    November 7, 2018 at 3:22 pm

    I hate to have to think this, let alone write it, but we have reached a point in the US where regardless of who wins or loses any given election, we need to be aware that significant numbers of our fellow Americans – citizens, legal residents, and even undocumented – are at significant risk. And the threat is coming from inside the house, from other Americans!

    I’m obviously going to have to get a bigger couch.

  2. 2.

    germy

    November 7, 2018 at 3:24 pm

    Jeff Sessions is an inspiring story of all the personal indignities one drawling racist foreskin elf will endure in the name of hurting undocumented immigrants
    — erin “pink wave” ryan (@morninggloria) November 7, 2018

  3. 3.

    TenguPhule

    November 7, 2018 at 3:24 pm

    And while the anti-immigrant, anti-ethnic minority, anti-religious minority, and anti-LGBTQ actions taken by the executive branch will continue, there is both a legislative branch check on them through House oversight, as well as a check in the states where Democrats have taken the governors’ mansions.

    How many divisions will Nancy Pelosi command?

    Its coming down to “Yeah I did it, now what are you going to do to stop me?”

    The GOP Nazis do not care. They’ve seen that the rules have no enforcement against them and are behaving accordingly.

  4. 4.

    Elizabelle

    November 7, 2018 at 3:27 pm

    Adam: will you put up the photo at the top of the WaPost website right now? It’s Trump, alas, but it is perfect. The pose.

  5. 5.

    jl

    November 7, 2018 at 3:27 pm

    Next 2 months are going to be wild and crazy, and not in a good way.
    Last chance for the crooks in WH and Congress to smash and grab the loot, and try to cover their tracks, with a unified front.
    Trumpsters will try to damage Mueller probe as much as possible in the meantime, maybe finish it off. Sessions firing was lined up ready to go, first thing the day after the election. Not much of a surprise, though immediately after the election is. But I guess Trump knows he has to act fast, and thread some needles to make it go away.
    I assume Mueller team had laid plans for that kind of sabotage, which they must have long known is coming.

  6. 6.

    eric

    November 7, 2018 at 3:27 pm

    i created this for a friend depressed about the results last night. I have cribbed from tweets and Kos and others…
    Dems won the US House
    Repubs LOST 333 legislative seats
    Repubs lost 7 governorships
    Repubs lost key 2020 Midwest states in PA, WI and MI.

    7 Chambers Flipped blue:
    CO Senate
    MN House
    NH House
    NH Senate
    ME Senate
    NY Senate
    WA Senate (Nov 2017)

    New supermajorities:
    OR Senate
    OR House

    Broken supermajorities:
    NC Senate
    NC House
    MI Senate
    PA Senate
    Dems added 6 more trifectas (gov+both chambers)

    1.4 million voters added to the list of eligible voters in Florida….Trump beat Hillary by 113,000…do the math.

    Dems control all of New York government.
    Dems flipped 12 seats from Red to Blue in the Texas state house
    Dems flipped 2 Texas seats from Red to Blue for US House
    Dems control the Texas Board of Education
    Trump could not help beat Tester in Montana
    Dems beat Kobach for Governor of Kansas
    There has never been a Native woman in Congress before. Now, there will be two: Kansas’s Sharice Davids, a Daily Kos endorsee, and New Mexico’s Deb Haaland.
    There has never been a Muslim woman in Congress before. Now, there will be two: Michigan’s Rashida Tlaib and Minnesota’s Ilhan Omar.
    Neither Massachusetts nor Connecticut had ever sent a black woman to Congress before—until Ayanna Pressley and Jahana Hayes were elected Tuesday night.
    Rep. Jared Polis will become the first openly gay governor elected in the nation, and will be Colorado’s first Jewish governor.
    Texas elected its first Latina candidate to the House … and there are two: Veronica Escobar and Sylvia Garcia.
    Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is the youngest woman ever elected to the House, at 29. Daily Kos endorsee Lauren Underwood is not a whole lot older, at 31.
    In New York, Letitia James became the first black woman elected statewide and the first black attorney general.
    New Mexico elected its first Latina Democratic governor, Michelle Lujan Grisham.
    Seven years ago, Zach Wahls went viral for delivering a passionate speech defending his lesbian moms in front of the Iowa House of Representatives. He was virtually unknown in 2011, when he spoke out in support of same-sex marriage and used his mom’s loving relationship as a personal example. Now, in a significant victory over his opponent, Carl Krambeck, a Libertarian, Wahls is a state lawmaker. Wahls, a Democrat, won 78 percent of the vote in Iowa Senate District 25. (No Republican ran in this race.)

  7. 7.

    schrodingers_cat

    November 7, 2018 at 3:28 pm

    Electing T was when we reached the point that you describe below.

    hate to have to think this, let alone write it, but we have reached a point in the US where regardless of who wins or loses any given election, we need to be aware that significant numbers of our fellow Americans – citizens, legal residents, and even undocumented – are at significant risk. And the threat is coming from inside the house, from other Americans! It is far better to think about how much risk we are willing to assume in the protection of our fellow Americans who are at risk now, rather than having to just react without reflection in the moment. Are you comfortable and willing to use your smart phone to videotape an unfortunate interaction to make sure there is a clear record? Are you comfortable and willing to say something to an aggressive and abusive person? Are you comfortable and willing to put yourself bettwen an aggressive and abusive person and their victim?

    The battle for the soul of this nation is on. We had a major victory yesterday.

  8. 8.

    cain

    November 7, 2018 at 3:28 pm

    This is some crazy shit. Should I really be that worried here, Adam? As a PoC, your post really alarms me and I’m in a blue bubble here in Indiana. Perhaps, I should wait a couple of days before going out? I remember during 9/11, I stayed home for a couple of days to make sure people who are enraged are calm down enough.

    Otherwise, what you seem to be saying is that the cold war is now turning into a full civil war.

  9. 9.

    Emma

    November 7, 2018 at 3:28 pm

    @TenguPhule: As of today, she controls the power of the purse, remember?

  10. 10.

    germy

    November 7, 2018 at 3:28 pm

    @eric: Thank you.

  11. 11.

    Mr Stagger Lee

    November 7, 2018 at 3:29 pm

    Protecting voting rights must be on
    top of list. Because all else is nothing as long you have the Kemps Kobachs and Halsteads doing everything to suppress the vote

  12. 12.

    Mary G

    November 7, 2018 at 3:29 pm

    It is a very dangerous time. I didn’t watch the press conference, but it sounds nutzo enough that the press may not look for “pivots” that aren’t there as much as they might have.

  13. 13.

    TenguPhule

    November 7, 2018 at 3:30 pm

    Whitaker has also made it clear he doesn’t particularly like how far Mueller has gone. He wrote an op-ed in August 2017 titled, “Mueller’s investigation of Trump is going too far” that urged Rosenstein to “limit the scope of this investigation.”

    “The President is absolutely correct,” Whitaker said after Trump suggested that Mueller investigating his finances would cross a red line. “Mueller has come up to a red line in the Russia 2016 election-meddling investigation that he is dangerously close to crossing.”

    Trump’s new acting attorney general once mused about defunding Mueller

  14. 14.

    eric

    November 7, 2018 at 3:30 pm

    @germy: you are welcome…i did not add specific defeats like Comstock and Pete Sessions because I am not sure the average person would get why they are big deals…but i may do that for volume 2….

  15. 15.

    TenguPhule

    November 7, 2018 at 3:30 pm

    @Emma:

    As of today, she controls the power of the purse, remember?

    Not yet. January.

  16. 16.

    Joe Falco

    November 7, 2018 at 3:30 pm

    The media are talking about the Florida governor’s race still being in play as votes are still coming in, and my anxiety just went through the roof. As much as I’m focusing on my own Georgia governor’s race, I’ve been looking at Florida as well to see if we can get both Abrams and Gillum elected. I just want to see all those neo-Confederate, traitorous, racist assholes go apoplectic at the thought that all their gerrymandering, vote-suppressing, dog-whistling bs was for naught.

  17. 17.

    Adria McDowell

    November 7, 2018 at 3:31 pm

    Sessions resigned.

  18. 18.

    JPL

    November 7, 2018 at 3:31 pm

    Besides the GA 6th that is poised to flip, the PA 6th flipped. The republican who lost his seat was not happy

    To deal w harassment & filth spewed at GOP MOC’s in tough seats every day for 2 yrs, bc of POTUS; to bite ur lip more times you’d care to; to disagree & separate from POTUS on principle & civility in ur campaign; to lose bc of POTUS & have him piss on u. Angers me to my core.

    @RyanCostello

  19. 19.

    JPL

    November 7, 2018 at 3:33 pm

    @Joe Falco: Abrams needs to count provisional ballot in order to force a runoff.

  20. 20.

    Adria McDowell

    November 7, 2018 at 3:33 pm

    Didn’t see the end of your post, sorry. We’re all sick in my house. :-)

  21. 21.

    guachi

    November 7, 2018 at 3:33 pm

    @JPL: He has a solution – become a Democrat. There’s no honor left in being a Republican.

  22. 22.

    JPL

    November 7, 2018 at 3:34 pm

    @Adria McDowell: There’s a post down below. His resignation letter was not dated and said at your request. hmmm

  23. 23.

    germy

    November 7, 2018 at 3:35 pm

    jeff sessions is the only confederate monument trump was willing to take down

    — Clint Smith (@ClintSmithIII) November 7, 2018

  24. 24.

    JPL

    November 7, 2018 at 3:35 pm

    @Adria McDowell: I hope that you are feeling better soon.

  25. 25.

    Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.)

    November 7, 2018 at 3:35 pm

    Last night was huge. It was less than I let myself dare hope, but it’s a beginning. It’s up to us now to keep the heat on.

  26. 26.

    JPL

    November 7, 2018 at 3:36 pm

    @germy: hahahaha

  27. 27.

    Mary G

    November 7, 2018 at 3:36 pm

    @Mr Stagger Lee: Agree, this is foundational:

    Breaking: The NAACP also is looking at voter irregularities in the state of Florida along with Georgia.— AprilDRyan (@AprilDRyan) November 7, 2018

    I am increasing my monthly donation to both the NAACP and the ACLU and checking into Spread the Vote, because I saw a tweet from their leader that they are dedicated to making sure everyone has the ID needed to vote.

  28. 28.

    jl

    November 7, 2018 at 3:36 pm

    @eric: @germy: I join germy in thanking you. I saved the comment for future reference.

    It was both a very successful and an infuriating election. In part of my ancestral stomping grounds in Central Valley in California, infuriating that the conman Denham barely eeked out an ill-deserved victory in CA-10. This guy has been voting hard core Trumpster and bringing Trumpster style corruption to his district since before Trump was elected. But he pretends to be a moderate reasonable compromiser to satisfy an almost evenly split district. How does he do it? He just lies his ass off to his constituents, that seems to be all it takes (and he got local media to support him, even though they must have known for a long time he lies his ass off).

    But the good news is that three fourths of the CA Central Vally, from Willow down to Fresno is deep purple or solid blue (again). The Depression turned most of it deep blue for a variety of reasons, but it went insane and voted against the interests of the average resident living there for years.

  29. 29.

    cain

    November 7, 2018 at 3:37 pm

    Also, what the fuck Nancy?? Seriously, you want to seek compromise with Trump? This is not why we elected Democrats. She’s going to have a hard time holding her caucus together if that is the plan.

  30. 30.

    Mr Stagger Lee

    November 7, 2018 at 3:37 pm

    @eric: Louisiana requiring unanimous votes to convict is a step for justice..

  31. 31.

    Emma

    November 7, 2018 at 3:37 pm

    @TenguPhule: It’s still the elephant in the room. “Mr. President, if you do that, we shall defund all government operations except essential matters such as social security and medicare as soon as the Democratic House of Representatives is seated.”

  32. 32.

    Adria McDowell

    November 7, 2018 at 3:38 pm

    @JPL: Thanks, I finally saw that. Like I said above, nothing but sick people in my house. I may or may not be delusional.

  33. 33.

    Joe Falco

    November 7, 2018 at 3:38 pm

    @JPL:
    He bit his lip and furrowed his eyebrows! What more did his constituents want than that?!

    Oh well, at least according to his tweet he got a golden shower from Trump out of it! Apparently the two men have similar tastes.

  34. 34.

    Stuart Frasier

    November 7, 2018 at 3:38 pm

    Couple of additional high points for me:

    MA voted overwhelmingly for transgender rights
    CA voted to keep the gas tax

  35. 35.

    Emma

    November 7, 2018 at 3:39 pm

    AAAAND off we go. The woman spouts the usual insincere crap and we turn on her immediately. At this rate, we’ll toss over all the gains just to spite Pelosi. I think I’ll go binge watch something and let my blood pressure settle.

  36. 36.

    Cheryl Rofer

    November 7, 2018 at 3:40 pm

    Cannabis stocks spike after anti-pot Sessions resigns https://t.co/MeyTY7FcIw pic.twitter.com/ko3gsEyRSk

    — Bloomberg Markets (@markets) November 7, 2018

  37. 37.

    eric

    November 7, 2018 at 3:40 pm

    @Mr Stagger Lee: consider it added. thanks!

  38. 38.

    The Moar You Know

    November 7, 2018 at 3:40 pm

    As of today, she controls the power of the purse, remember?

    @Emma: Not so fast. January. Sorry. We are in for an orgy of lawlessness before the new folks are sworn in.

  39. 39.

    jl

    November 7, 2018 at 3:40 pm

    @Mary G: Hope they are thorough and persistent. If that slime Kemp broke any laws, then his ass needs to be nailed for it asap.

  40. 40.

    Mary G

    November 7, 2018 at 3:41 pm

    Butthurt gives me life:

    Quite a tantrum in Harris Co: After losing his bench in a Dem sweep the night before, a Harris Co juvi court judge released nearly all the young defendants that appeared in his court this am, simply asking whether they planned to kill anyone before letting them go https://t.co/ZqWoPdrIw7— Michael Barajas (@michaelsbarajas) November 7, 2018

  41. 41.

    eric

    November 7, 2018 at 3:41 pm

    @Stuart Frasier: thanks!

  42. 42.

    piratedan

    November 7, 2018 at 3:42 pm

    my understanding is that they did not flip the TX Board of Education, they won a majority of the seats that were up for election last night, but the GOP still has a majority on the board itself

  43. 43.

    Gretchen

    November 7, 2018 at 3:42 pm

    @cain: Nancy is holding out the football. If he kicks it, she whisks it away. If not, it’s clear that Trump is the problem. Never doubt that Nancy knows what she’s doing.

  44. 44.

    schrodingers_cat

    November 7, 2018 at 3:43 pm

    @cain: I think you need to calm down. NP knows how to get the job done while mouthing insincere platitudes.

  45. 45.

    TenguPhule

    November 7, 2018 at 3:43 pm

    @Mary G:

    simply asking whether they planned to kill anyone before letting them go

    I assume they said yes. Which is why he let them go.

  46. 46.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 7, 2018 at 3:43 pm

    @cain: Give her some credit, dude. She knows when to say things and when to do things.

  47. 47.

    eric

    November 7, 2018 at 3:44 pm

    @Gretchen: if only she had a trial run in charge so we could see what she was capable of…..

  48. 48.

    jl

    November 7, 2018 at 3:44 pm

    @Mary G: We are living in a time when a degenerate and depraved political movement has captured a major political party, and looks like also captured nearly all the asshole jerks in the country.

  49. 49.

    kindness

    November 7, 2018 at 3:44 pm

    We libs are going to have to put ourselves on the line to back up those that get attacked by Trump’s minions. I don’t mean fight, I mean defend with force if necessary. It’s not the same thing. If I see someone being harrassed by a Trumpie, it’s now my responsibility to step between the two and defuse the situation or defuse the harrasser by any means needed. And ‘any means’ means Queensbury Rules are out the window, don’t bother.

  50. 50.

    Barney

    November 7, 2018 at 3:44 pm

    It’s going to be all legal argument, all the time. Democrats will investigate and use subpoenas; the White House will refuse to obey them, and tell all Republicans and anyone else they can intimidate to do the same. Then there will be endless court arguments about this, which the White House will (a) want to drag out as long as possible, while trying to paint it like the Dems are the ones doing illegal stuff (b) appeal all the way up to the Supreme Court where their placemen will do what Stephen Miller tells them (Roberts is the swing vote – god help the USA).

    Similarly, Trump will try to govern by decree with endless executive orders, which, again, will get litigated up to the SC. Meanwhile, the Republican senate will stuff every court with ideologues that they can, partly to make this process work for them, partly to control the courts even after Trump is voted out.

    Mueller’s investigation is now going to be obstructed by his new boss (maybe not shut down, since that’s too straightforward. Obstruction wastes more time). A few more Trump team members will have obvious charges laid against them (if Don Jr. looks like getting that, that will be the trigger to shut it down), and a few cabinet members will be shown to be so openly corrupt that they’ll have to go, but Trump can use any old conman to replace them as long as he has leverage over them – the senate won’t stop him now.

    The ‘business’ of government will be to install conservative judges and obstruct the House. The trade war is going to drag on since no one in the White House is competent enough to stop it, and Trump won’t back down because of his ego. The Korea talks are already in difficulty, but at least South Korea knows what it’s doing.

  51. 51.

    cain

    November 7, 2018 at 3:45 pm

    @Emma:

    AAAAND off we go. The woman spouts the usual insincere crap and we turn on her immediately. At this rate, we’ll toss over all the gains just to spite Pelosi.

    She was better off not saying anything. In a highly divided country, it serves no purpose to say you’re going to work with the opposition, especially one that has proven to be feckless continuously. She needlessly created friction with the Democratic base, former republicans, everyone. For what? Do you think Trumpers give two shits that the Democrats are going to work with the Trump? Who is the message for, exactly? I’m trying to understand who she is signalling this message for, because it sure ain’t most of us here.

  52. 52.

    Kent

    November 7, 2018 at 3:45 pm

    @cain:

    Also, what the fuck Nancy?? Seriously, you want to seek compromise with Trump? This is not why we elected Democrats. She’s going to have a hard time holding her caucus together if that is the plan.

    Relax, she knows what she is doing. Pelosi was never the problem during the Obama administration. It was always the Senate and snakes like Lieberman. Compromise means putting the Dream Act back on the table in exchange for some $$ for Trumps wall that will never get built. Compromise property funding the ACA in exchange for passing the Farm Bill. There are a lot of progressive objectives that can now finally get leveraged into law now that Pelosi holds the purse strings. Unless you are no different than Ted Cruz and just to burn the place down instead of making any compromises.

  53. 53.

    TenguPhule

    November 7, 2018 at 3:45 pm

    @kindness:

    I don’t mean fight, I mean defend with force if necessary.

    Also known as fighting.

  54. 54.

    eclare

    November 7, 2018 at 3:46 pm

    @Emma: Seriously, people are taking that posturing seriously? She’s been around awhile and been awake.

  55. 55.

    TenguPhule

    November 7, 2018 at 3:46 pm

    @cain:

    I’m trying to understand who she is signalling this message for,

    The common clay of the midwest.

  56. 56.

    The Moar You Know

    November 7, 2018 at 3:46 pm

    Also, what the fuck Nancy?? Seriously, you want to seek compromise with Trump? This is not why we elected Democrats. She’s going to have a hard time holding her caucus together if that is the plan.

    @cain: You’re an idiot. So are the vast majority of posters on that thread. Look at her record. It is not one of “caving” to anyone for any reason. Take a deep breath and calm the fuck down.

    I swear only Dem women get this treatment and it’s infuriating.

  57. 57.

    Barbara

    November 7, 2018 at 3:46 pm

    @JPL: Costello was not running for reelection. He retired in a fashion timed to maximize the likelihood a D would win. I don’t know what’s going on with that.

    Also, I wanted to recount an experience that really brought home to me how Trump supporters resort to intimidation almost by reflex. Yesterday I stood in front of a large apartment complex doing canvassing, for last minute voters. Eventually this guy came up to me and began challenging my right to be in front of “his” property. So I said, mildly, well, I can move to the sidewalk since it bothers you. Whereupon he said that he owned the sidewalk too. I should have told him that having lived in the county for 30 years I know that isn’t true, but whatever, he kept challenging me — he accused me of trespassing and harassment, and, I am not kidding, he called the police and insisted that they come and remove me. He was so close I could hear the conversation (including his name, which I have naturally looked up). The woman kept saying, “But sir, what exactly is she doing? Is she on the sidewalk?” And he kept insisting that they needed to intervene, whereupon she said, well it will be 15 or 20 minutes until we get there.” It was almost time for the polls to close, so I left, but then drove around and of course, he was gone.

    As I discussed this incident with my husband this morning, I realized that this is the kind of crap non-white people put up with all the time — a direct challenge to your right to do something completely innocuous that you have a right to do because some idiot doesn’t like it. In this case, he probably didn’t like that where we live, nearly everyone votes Democratic. I had no fear that the police would side with him, especially because I was on the sidewalk conducting protected political activity. But that’s what is in store for many people, mostly people who don’t look like me and who will be dealing with authorities who are belligerent and suspicious. I was shaking when I left.

  58. 58.

    cain

    November 7, 2018 at 3:47 pm

    @Gretchen:

    @cain: Nancy is holding out the football. If he kicks it, she whisks it away. If not, it’s clear that Trump is the problem. Never doubt that Nancy knows what she’s doing.

    I don’t know who she’s exactly talking to. Also the usual political calculus with Trump is not really going to work. She may know what she’s doing but she’s creating needless friction. I’m trying to understand what the play is with that comment.

  59. 59.

    TenguPhule

    November 7, 2018 at 3:48 pm

    @Kent:

    Pelosi was never the problem during the Obama administration.

    To be fair, she wasn’t enough of a problem during the Bush reign of Error’s ending years either.

    One of her few fuckups back then was letting Karl Rove & Dick Cheney get away with defying Congress and destroying/hiding information.

  60. 60.

    cain

    November 7, 2018 at 3:48 pm

    @The Moar You Know:

    @cain: You’re an idiot. So are the vast majority of posters on that thread. Look at her record. It is not one of “caving” to anyone for any reason. Take a deep breath and calm the fuck down.

    I fully understand her record. I just don’t understand the comment. Perhaps I should not have said ‘WTF’, because I’m not really mad at Pelosi, I just know there will be a freak out from this side. I’m a huge fan and supporter.

  61. 61.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 7, 2018 at 3:48 pm

    @Elizabelle: This one?

    To Sessions, President Trump was the man who could do no wrong. To Trump, Sessions was the attorney general who could do no right. https://t.co/ez1QmDHBrq

    — The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) November 7, 2018

  62. 62.

    Timurid

    November 7, 2018 at 3:48 pm

    This could be a long night…

    https://twitter.com/ScottMStedman/status/1060269960570621953

  63. 63.

    Barbara

    November 7, 2018 at 3:49 pm

    @cain: There is no one and I really mean that, no one, who is cannier about this stuff than Nancy Pelosi. Can’t you try to give her the benefit of the doubt and trust that she way more experience at this than you or I do? And perhaps marvel that for the last two years and really, when she was speaker, she held her caucus together in a way maximized to avoid harmful compromise.

  64. 64.

    Matt McIrvin

    November 7, 2018 at 3:50 pm

    The chances that Special Counsel Mueller’s investigations will be interfered with, let alone shut down, have significantly decreased.

    What? Isn’t the firing of Sessions a signal that this is going to happen immediately?

  65. 65.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??

    November 7, 2018 at 3:50 pm

    @kindness:
    Unfortunately, a few people doing that last year got killed by the unhinged racist in Portland for their troubles.

  66. 66.

    SH121

    November 7, 2018 at 3:51 pm

    Any questions on why the Confederacy lost the Civil War? Cut and run is not exactly strategic or tactical when you are a coward. Sessions will now assume his honorary Colonel title grow a white beard and moustache, plan his statue on an elephant in some Alabama city park while writing his memoirs titled,”How I Saved My Dixie Cups and The Rise of the American Racists Saved From Humanity.”

  67. 67.

    Mary G

    November 7, 2018 at 3:51 pm

    Going all in on the white nationalism:

    Identity Evropa leader Patrick Casey paid a visit to the White House. https://t.co/7IhCbH22OC— Jared Holt (@jaredlholt) November 7, 2018

    More of a bullhorn than a dog whistle.

  68. 68.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 7, 2018 at 3:51 pm

    @cain: We’re in a cold civil war and have been for a while. This was really not aimed at our readers who are people of color or visible religious minorities or LGBTQ. I work from the assumption that you already know what the risks are in this moment. This post was aimed at those of us white, straight writers, commenters, and readers at Balloon Juice and wherever else it might get referenced. To get them focused on what is happening and to get them thinking about what will be needed to do to protect you all.

  69. 69.

    Spanky

    November 7, 2018 at 3:52 pm

    Breaking News banner at top of CNN website:

    Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein, who had been leading the Russia probe, is expected at the White House soon.

    It has begun.

  70. 70.

    Chetan Murthy

    November 7, 2018 at 3:53 pm

    @cain: (1) as others have noted, she wasn’t the problem during the Obama admin — it was Lieberman and others. And she’s been -stalwart- during the Trumpist Interregnum, eh? -stalwart-.

    (2) There may be many audiences she’s signaling to. Former GrOPers, for one. But also, consider that she might be signaling to the media. They’re going to revert to their “bipartisanship” in 1..2..3….

    Look: one of the things Dems always say about GrOPers is that actions speak louder than words. Those fuckers lie, lie, lie. Do you REALLY think we need our pols to always and ONLY tell the truth? Esp. when it’s not to our own constituency? Hell, we should WANT our pols to lie their asses off to the other guy’s despicable hordes. We. Should. Want. It.

  71. 71.

    TenguPhule

    November 7, 2018 at 3:53 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    We’re in a cold civil war and have been for a while.

    Feels a bit more like room temperature.

  72. 72.

    jl

    November 7, 2018 at 3:53 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: In some ways I think Pelosi is brilliant and great, and in others she infuriates me.
    But I agree here she is going in the right direction.

    Remember she said the Dems need to stand their ground, but seek compromise. I don’t think she is the best at clear expression for a broad political audience. I think trying to make any progress that is helpful to average person that is possible, without sacrificing core principles is what most voters want, and what will create support for 2020.

    The GOP operatives disguising themselves as pundits on TV will hate it. And fraudster news actors on TV will go along with them, because they are lazy frauds. Democrats will have to not cave and stand strong then they are repeatedly badgered about why they are being pests about paying attention to actual policy, and not caving in and doing whatever super rich dipshits want them to do.

    The Dem House members will have to learn not to cry and whimper on camera and piss themselves, but tell the TV frauds to go to hell, that they are trying to pass good policy, and Trump and the GOP Senate need to quit lying and BSing when they opposes it

    Anyway,it will still always be infrastructure week!

  73. 73.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 7, 2018 at 3:54 pm

    @JPL: Costello retired rather than run for reelection.

  74. 74.

    cain

    November 7, 2018 at 3:55 pm

    @Barbara:

    @cain: There is no one and I really mean that, no one, who is cannier about this stuff than Nancy Pelosi. Can’t you try to give her the benefit of the doubt and trust that she way more experience at this than you or I do? And perhaps marvel that for the last two years and really, when she was speaker, she held her caucus together in a way maximized to avoid harmful compromise.

    I’m totally willing to do that. (I’m trying to de-escalate the reactions from my initial post )

  75. 75.

    Cheryl Rofer

    November 7, 2018 at 3:56 pm

    This is the page to find demonstrations if Mueller is fired.

  76. 76.

    Chetan Murthy

    November 7, 2018 at 3:56 pm

    @cain: Also, remember Murc’s Law (“Only Democrats have agency”). The chattering classes will DEMAND that she reach out the hand to the GrOPers. DEMAND, they will.

  77. 77.

    cain

    November 7, 2018 at 3:56 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:
    Thanks for the clarification.. I was just worried that I was going to get beaten up or something. :-) Being in Indiana, I might have cause..

  78. 78.

    Mary G

    November 7, 2018 at 3:56 pm

    Ruh Ro:

    NBC and Bloomberg now reporting that Rod Rosenstein has been pulled off oversight of Mueller probe. https://t.co/IpmRBRQVkZ— Mike Eckel (@Mike_Eckel) November 7, 2018

    Going to order more poster board for marches.

  79. 79.

    Kent

    November 7, 2018 at 3:57 pm

    @cain:

    I fully understand her record. I just don’t understand the comment. Perhaps I should not have said ‘WTF’, because I’m not really mad at Pelosi, I just know there will be a freak out from this side. I’m a huge fan and supporter.

    She is already creating the narrative for 2020. Democrats are reasonable people and want to do what’s best of the country. It’s the ideologues in the Trump Administration that refuse to come together and compromise so we can govern. Honestly very little shit is going to get done in the next two years. It wil be your basic gridlock except when Dems can extract out concessions on spending. The question for 2020 is who will get the blame for that gridlock. That’s what this is all about. Nancy is getting out ahead on building the narrative.

  80. 80.

    Timurid

    November 7, 2018 at 3:57 pm

    @Mary G:

    They’re probably fishing for his resignation.

  81. 81.

    Eljai

    November 7, 2018 at 3:58 pm

    @jl: I live in a solid blue county so I decided to adopt CA-10 and canvass for Josh Harder. I share your disappointment that lying sack Denhem squeaked out a win, but pleased that the district is getting bluer all the time.

  82. 82.

    TenguPhule

    November 7, 2018 at 3:58 pm

    @Mary G:

    Going to order more poster board for marches.

    Body armor might be a wiser investment.

    And I’m not kidding.

  83. 83.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 7, 2018 at 3:58 pm

    @piratedan: That’s why I left that out of the post.

  84. 84.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    November 7, 2018 at 3:58 pm

    Worth keeping mind that Sessions was a Trump boot licker prime until Trump decided his shoes weren’t shinny enough and even then Sessions wanted nothing to do with Mueller, most likely because Sessions knew he would be one going to jail in Watergate II – the Freshing. That likely a calculation for this ATG whose is replacing Sessions.

    Also, Sessions tried to resign once he got so sick and tired of Trump’s abuse, and Sessions has been out of sigh for while. While Sessions is low to the ground and naturally built for stealth, it’s not impossible that Session effectively quit an while ago and Trump was waiting until after the election. Trump is a narcissist and narcissists can’t stand rejection, if you are wonder about the press conference.

    My bet is Trump is going to try some petty revenge on the American people for rejecting him in the election, because that’s what narcissists do.

  85. 85.

    cain

    November 7, 2018 at 3:58 pm

    @Chetan Murthy:

    2) There may be many audiences she’s signaling to. Former GrOPers, for one. But also, consider that she might be signaling to the media. They’re going to revert to their “bipartisanship” in 1..2..3….

    I think today’s press conference has signaled tot at least reporters and not necessarily pundits that there is blood in the water.

  86. 86.

    jl

    November 7, 2018 at 3:59 pm

    Trump and his cronies and some of his family (probably Barron and Tiffany out of the loop) know exactly how deep the shit is, and what Mueller might know.
    So, I think fact that they feel that they have to act so fast tells us something.
    I don’t think we can get out of this mess without at least one major Constitutional crisis. And the first biggie might be starting today, and will blow up between now and right after January 3rd.

  87. 87.

    TenguPhule

    November 7, 2018 at 4:00 pm

    @Kent:

    Democrats are reasonable people and want to do what’s best of the country.

    Hillary Clinton tried this too.

    It didn’t stick because many voters are stupid and don’t pay attention.

    Perhaps something a little simpler like “No More Nazis”?

  88. 88.

    TenguPhule

    November 7, 2018 at 4:00 pm

    @jl:

    I don’t think we can get out of this mess without at least one major Constitutional crisis.

    We’re up to at least six. That I remember just off the top of my head.

  89. 89.

    cain

    November 7, 2018 at 4:01 pm

    @Kent:

    She is already creating the narrative for 2020. Democrats are reasonable people and want to do what’s best of the country.

    We had a very reasonable president who reached out to the opposition. That narrative didn’t work with the press. We’ll see.

  90. 90.

    Janis

    November 7, 2018 at 4:01 pm

    @eric: Abby Finkenour from the 1st in Iowa is also 29.

  91. 91.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    November 7, 2018 at 4:01 pm

    @Mr Stagger Lee: Congress can now agree to fund things like voter protection and election integrity. The power of the purse is not a minor thing.

  92. 92.

    Elizabelle

    November 7, 2018 at 4:01 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Yes. Thank you.

  93. 93.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    November 7, 2018 at 4:02 pm

    @cain: Pelosi is talking to the media. Did you hear the first question they put to her? She knows better than anyone what the media will ask, what answers they’ll actually hear and report on, what she as a Dem has to pay lip service to.

    It’s how the sausage gets made.

  94. 94.

    The Moar You Know

    November 7, 2018 at 4:03 pm

    NBC and Bloomberg now reporting that Rod Rosenstein has been pulled off oversight of Mueller probe. https://t.co/IpmRBRQVkZ— Mike Eckel (@Mike_Eckel) November 7, 2018

    @Mary G: Huh. So this is going down today/tonight. Smart. Most people will be at work and can’t leave to protest.

  95. 95.

    Chetan Murthy

    November 7, 2018 at 4:03 pm

    @cain:

    I think today’s press conference has signaled tot at least reporters and not necessarily pundits that there is blood in the water.

    I hate to have to say this, but “don’t count on it”. Sure, some “good journos” got up and grandstanded with their pushback. Makes for great teevee. But come Sunday, count the # of GrOPers on the chin-stroking talk shows, as compared to Dems. And then, well, I think we’ll see that, no, the media is still GrOPer-curious (at least).

  96. 96.

    TenguPhule

    November 7, 2018 at 4:03 pm

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym:

    Congress can now agree to fund things like voter protection and election integrity.

    it will never pass the Senate.

  97. 97.

    tobie

    November 7, 2018 at 4:04 pm

    @cain: Let me join the chorus of those asking you to give Nancy the benefit of the doubt for 5 minutes.

  98. 98.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 7, 2018 at 4:05 pm

    @kindness: This is what I was talking about. Thank you for getting it.

  99. 99.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    November 7, 2018 at 4:05 pm

    @Mary G: A couple of days ago Rachel identified a guy who was inline to supervise the Mueller investigation but couldn’t because of a conflict of interest (ties to Trump’s lawyer or something). But there was a very quiet executive order secretly filed a few months ago saying that conflict of interest rules were waived for this guy.

  100. 100.

    Gravenstone

    November 7, 2018 at 4:05 pm

    @cain:

    Who is the message for, exactly? I’m trying to understand who she is signalling this message for, because it sure ain’t most of us here.

    Audience of one. This is hardly the first time she’s said ‘nice things’ to or about Trump in an effort to sway him. She knows how to play that buffoon as well as anyone, and will now be in a position to do so effectively.

  101. 101.

    Chetan Murthy

    November 7, 2018 at 4:07 pm

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym:

    A couple of days ago Rachel identified a guy who was inline to supervise the Mueller investigation

    Noel Francisco, IIRC.

  102. 102.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    November 7, 2018 at 4:07 pm

    @TenguPhule: We’ll see. I personally am tired of Eeyore mode for the moment. Let’s at least wait til the new Congress has been warming their chairs up till the first coffee break before we declare them a failure. Maybe even till lunch time.

  103. 103.

    TenguPhule

    November 7, 2018 at 4:09 pm

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: There are 54 Republicans in the Senate who will not vote for it. That’s the plain truth of it.

  104. 104.

    schrodingers_cat

    November 7, 2018 at 4:09 pm

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: So am I. I am fucking tired of the non-stop sky is falling mode that some commenters indulge in no matter what happens. Even if the sky is indeed falling, wailing about it, achieves nothing.

  105. 105.

    Mnemosyne

    November 7, 2018 at 4:12 pm

    @Chetan Murthy:

    Do you REALLY think we need our pols to always and ONLY tell the truth?

    There is a certain contingent on the left who think words are more important than actions and freak out whenever they hear words they don’t like.

    Those people are morons.

  106. 106.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 7, 2018 at 4:19 pm

    @cain: My working assumption right now is that some people of color, visible religious minorities, and/or LGBTQ folks will get beaten up. That houses of worship will be vandalized, at least. That people will be hurt. We just don’t specifically know who, where, when, and how.

  107. 107.

    TenguPhule

    November 7, 2018 at 4:20 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    I am fucking tired of the non-stop sky is falling mode that some commenters indulge in no matter what happens.

    I eagerly await your pointing out how we convince any of the 54 Republicans in the Senate to vote for free and fair elections.

  108. 108.

    TenguPhule

    November 7, 2018 at 4:21 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    My working assumption right now is that some people of color, visible religious minorities, and/or LGBTQ folks will get beaten up.

    I think its going to be a tad more permanent then just beatings.

  109. 109.

    cain

    November 7, 2018 at 4:24 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    @cain: My working assumption right now is that some people of color, visible religious minorities, and/or LGBTQ folks will get beaten up. That houses of worship will be vandalized, at least. That people will be hurt. We just don’t specifically know who, where, when, and how.

    Bleah.. well, I suppose I’ll just have to weather it and make sure those of us who are PoC are watchful and go in groups.

  110. 110.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 7, 2018 at 4:25 pm

    @Elizabelle: You’re welcome.

  111. 111.

    jl

    November 7, 2018 at 4:25 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: I think you are right about the danger of mob action. In terms of top-down policy, I think Trump’s first priority will be to shut down Mueller and deep six anything he’s found, and that is higher priority than everything else. Trump’s a bigot and he’s fine with it, but bigoted policy isn’t an ideological priority for him, though it is for Sessions. I made myself listen to the Trump mess this morning. I think he sounded rattled and nervous, because he knows he has to take immediate and desperate action, and thread several needles, go get out of the legal mess he’s made for himself.

    So, probably see a slow (but maybe it will be fast, let’s see if Rosenstein has a job at the end of the day) motion administrative massacre, that started this morning with firing of Sessions.

  112. 112.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 7, 2018 at 4:33 pm

    @jl:

    I made myself listen to the Trump mess this morning. I think he sounded rattled and nervous, because he knows he as to take desperate action, and thread several needles, go get out of the legal mess he’s made for himself.

    I had it on in the background and that was my take away as well.

  113. 113.

    CliosFanBoy

    November 7, 2018 at 4:34 pm

    @Barbara: glad you’re ok.what did you find when you looked him up??

  114. 114.

    FlipYrWhig

    November 7, 2018 at 4:35 pm

    @cain:

    Who is the message for, exactly?

    In Virginia, where you may have noticed Democrats are doing really well lately, a lot of Democratic candidates and politicians pledge to work across the aisle and blah blah blah. You know who likes it? (1) The same people who do things like read David Brooks because it’s important to their self-image as “open-minded.” (2) The same people who think most politicians are crooks and wish they would knock off the bullshit and solve everyday problems practically. How many people is that? A lot. One, the other, or both are the tribal languages of college-educated white moderates and “social liberal/fiscal conservative” types who have slowly but surely defected from the Republican Party.

  115. 115.

    FDRLincoln

    November 7, 2018 at 4:48 pm

    We all wanted Gettysburg. What we got was Antietam…..a bloody victory that wasn’t all we wanted, but a victory nonetheless.

    The Cold Civil War continues.

    We need an Anaconda Plan…continue squeezing the GOP.

  116. 116.

    germy

    November 7, 2018 at 4:49 pm

    NBC and Bloomberg now reporting that Rod Rosenstein has been pulled off oversight of Mueller probe.

    things are happening fast.

  117. 117.

    germy

    November 7, 2018 at 4:52 pm

    @FDRLincoln: A job for the scissor vixens.

  118. 118.

    jl

    November 7, 2018 at 4:53 pm

    @FlipYrWhig: One group is loud and proud about being all ‘my way or the highway’ and the opposition is pure evil that must be destroyed,. That is the Trumpster GOP and their results last night were not good overall.

    Reasonable people who know how to win elections across the ideological spectrum know that “i’m eager to work across the aisle, but I will not sacrifice core principles” is an idea you want to instill to gain broad support. From BS and Warren, to Obama, to Manchin (though I don’t think Manchin is like the other two in how he goes about it, he doesn’t do it in helpful way.)

    Edit: I don’t think Manchin is on the ideological spectrum. He doesn’t have any. He does what he needs to rake in the dough and make it through the next election.

  119. 119.

    Miss Bianca

    November 7, 2018 at 4:54 pm

    @JPL: Bye, Felicia – err, Ryan.

  120. 120.

    germy

    November 7, 2018 at 4:54 pm

    Matthew Whitaker has two failed political campaigns under his belt, and also served on the board of a ‘patent assistance company’ that got shuttered by the FTC for fraud. https://t.co/LRBbUqc6JQ— s. e. smith (@sesmith) November 7, 2018

    During a failed campaign, he said he 'would ask judicial nominees whether they were 'people of faith' who had 'a biblical view of justice,’’ which fits right in with the religious imposition agenda at Justice. https://t.co/yE4hZcvaKX— s. e. smith (@sesmith) November 7, 2018

  121. 121.

    The Moar You Know

    November 7, 2018 at 4:55 pm

    Audience of one. This is hardly the first time she’s said ‘nice things’ to or about Trump in an effort to sway him. She knows how to play that buffoon as well as anyone, and will now be in a position to do so effectively.

    @Gravenstone: Not just him, although that’s a large part of it. The fucking press, too. They’ll start in with condemnation of “the shrill Democrats” soon enough, but a few days breathing room would help get shit in order and prepared, especially since it looks like we’re gonna get us a nice Wednesday Night Massacre.

    Trump assumes everyone’s as dishonest as he is, but dumber. Nancy can and will be be just as dishonest as he is, but she’s a damn sight smarter. There’s a reason the Republicans have been trying to get rid of her for decades – because she’s really good. I would point out they don’t dish out the same boogeyman treatment to Schumer that they do to her. Or did to Harry Reid. There’s a reason for that.

  122. 122.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 7, 2018 at 5:08 pm

    @germy: Here you go. Corn fed Federalist Society nut:
    https://caffeinatedthoughts.com/2014/05/iowa-u-s-senate-candidate-profile-qa-matt-whitaker/

  123. 123.

    Stuart Frasier

    November 7, 2018 at 5:11 pm

    @FDRLincoln:
    What I really want is Sherman’s March to the Sea.

  124. 124.

    germy

    November 7, 2018 at 5:13 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: In your opinion, how much damage can he do in his new position?

  125. 125.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 7, 2018 at 5:20 pm

    @germy: Well I wouldn’t expect the lawsuit against the pre-existing conditions to be withdrawn. He could do a lot. Imagine what would happen if you appointed an evangelical Brett Kavanaugh acting attorney general?

  126. 126.

    TenguPhule

    November 7, 2018 at 5:22 pm

    @jl:

    “i’m eager to work across the aisle, but I will not sacrifice core principles” is an idea you want to instill to gain broad support.

    We’re long past the point where that was possible.

    Its Italian vs Tire rims with anthrax.

    Trying to square that difference is an exercise in madness.

  127. 127.

    Yarrow

    November 7, 2018 at 5:33 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: One of the losses I’m most disappointed about is Justin Nelson who ran for TX AG. The indicted-on-multiple-felonies current AG Ken Paxton won the race. Nelson said he’d toss out the case trying to take away coverage for pre-existing conditions that Paxton has been pushing through. Hate these people so much.

  128. 128.

    A Ghost To Most

    November 7, 2018 at 5:34 pm

    People can talk, talk about what might happen. Do you have any plans if something actually happens?

    Go long on arch supports. A lot of folks are only prepared to be caught flat-footed.

  129. 129.

    Raven Onthill

    November 7, 2018 at 5:34 pm

    @FlipYrWhig: “(1) The same people who do things like read David Brooks because it’s important to their self-image as “open-minded.” (2) The same people who think most politicians are crooks and wish they would knock off the bullshit and solve everyday problems practically.”

    Aren’t these MLK’s “white moderates?”

  130. 130.

    joel hanes

    November 7, 2018 at 5:51 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Is on record as thinking that Marbury v Madison was wrongly decided.

  131. 131.

    Ladyraxterinok

    November 7, 2018 at 5:56 pm

    @FDRLincoln: Anaconda Plan–slowly squeezing the GOP!! FABULOUS. Great motto for democrats

  132. 132.

    Ladyraxterinok

    November 7, 2018 at 6:09 pm

    @joel hanes: Could you expand a bit on this, please? Skimmed a bit about the ruling on internet, but it’s been a bad few days . The new guy doesn’t think SCOTUS is permitted to decide if something the legislative or executive branch does is unconstitutional?

  133. 133.

    Tenar Arha

    November 7, 2018 at 7:03 pm

    @Gretchen: Yep.
    @cain: I am much less concerned about Pelosi than I am about Schumer, who truly doesn’t seem to understand how to fight in the Senate when you don’t make the rules.

    I get that the GOP will use misogyny every time as their preferred weapon, no need to take their advice on who should lead Democrats. ? With added dramatic affect, & with no Wikipedia checking for confirmation, just like Hitler was afraid of Churchill more than anyone else, why should we take our current autocratic wannabe rulers’ advice either?

  134. 134.

    low-tech cyclist

    November 7, 2018 at 7:20 pm

    Are you comfortable and willing to say something to an aggressive and abusive person? Are you comfortable and willing to put yourself bettwen an aggressive and abusive person and their victim?

    Oddly enough until you think about it, the best approach in such a situation isn’t to confront the abusive person, but to strike up a conversation with the person he’s harassing, as if you were old friends of the harasser’s target, and ignoring the harasser himself. It confuses the harasser, and complicates his situation without your giving him something to react to, some reason to turn his attack on you.

  135. 135.

    Amir Khalid

    November 7, 2018 at 8:37 pm

    @cain:
    When has Nancy Pelosi ever let the side down? Trust her.

  136. 136.

    Barbara

    November 7, 2018 at 9:19 pm

    @CliosFanBoy: He is some kind of IT worker, probably around 50, originally from Texas.

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