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Post by The Captain on Nov 7, 2018 14:14:58 GMT -5
hondobrode - your note about gerrymandering contributing to the Republicans retaining the Senate is inaccurate. Those are statewide votes and are not affected by how the districts are drawn. And how backwards is Iowa that a jackwagon like King wasn't run out of office? On my ballot, three of the four candidates I voted for won, with the one that lost running for the House of Representatives, but she was a long-shot anyway because of redrawn districts in PA. My town, which used to be included with Pittsburgh, was moved into a far-more rural district that includes the entire SW corner of the state, which is heavily Red, so I will never have a Democrat representative in the House as long as I live where I currently do. Her opponent ran on a "Border Wall/Economic Growth/Pro-Trump Agenda" platform, which garnered him 58% of the vote. Sigh... That particular corner of Iowa is very conservative but I would categorize Iowa as a purple state.
I'm in central Iowa which is pretty much split down the middle and as you move east towards the Mississippi River it becomes more and more progressive.
Pennsylvania is just as weird, it sounds like. Allegheny County, Erie County, and most of the eastern border with DE, NJ, and NY are blue, but damn near every other square inch of the state is red. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 7, 2018 14:36:31 GMT -5
here's the update I posted to my friends this morning:
"My brain is *screaming* at me this morning to be depressed.
The Democrats lost in several very high profile cases - including one that hurts the most: Beto lost to Cruz, and in Florida (and it seems Georgia, although not called yet), the Minority candidate that was expected to win lost to the older white male, under this racist President.
and rubbing salt in the wound, Iowa re-elected a Nazi Pig (Steve King). Devin Nunes, Trump's lapdog also won in California.
although it was a longshot, the Dems didn't get the Senate, and even lost some seats (where is the empathy in this Country?)
the Democrats also didn't pick up as many Governorships as expected - meaning the Gerrymandering will stay in place.
*****but*****
then I realize. . .we WON the F'ing HOUSE.
and that is huge. Despite the Gerrymandering that made it so difficult for a Democrat to win, leading to a vocal minority being in charge of the House? Democrats now control it for the 1st time in 8 years.
This was absolutely a wave, as the numbers had to be *huge* to overcome the map that was working against them.
I truly do not give too much of a crap about the investigations into Trump - but I know there will be a lot of them, and Trump is already threatening retaliation from the Senate side if they try to.
What's keeping me out of falling into depression today?
1st Openly Gay Governor
1st two Native American Female Representatives
1st two Muslim Female Representatives
Kim Davis defeated for County Clerk by a gay man
so many Women won their races
at the end of the day? we Won, and there is finally a check on this administration, and Healthcare (what's left of it) will be safe for the next few years.
yeah.
It's a good day."
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Post by Deleted on Nov 7, 2018 15:23:38 GMT -5
Looks like Sessions is done as Attorney General-resigned under pressure or fired according to conflicting reports, but done none the less. Sessions' chief-of-staff Matthew Whitaker will be acting Attorney General.
-M
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Post by Deleted on Nov 7, 2018 16:11:10 GMT -5
Sessions' chief-of-staff Matthew Whitaker will be acting Attorney General. -M ILLEGALLY
Whitaker was not confirmed by the Senate to be in a supervisory position in the Justice Department.
Trump appointing him is Illegal.
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Post by Prince Hal on Nov 7, 2018 17:10:23 GMT -5
Sessions' chief-of-staff Matthew Whitaker will be acting Attorney General. -M ILLEGALLY
Whitaker was not confirmed by the Senate to be in a supervisory position in the Justice Department.
Trump appointing him is Illegal.
And it's not even Saturday night.... |
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Post by impulse on Nov 7, 2018 17:22:56 GMT -5
Can any of the lawyers here confirm? Is that actually illegal?
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Post by Deleted on Nov 7, 2018 17:33:55 GMT -5
it's absolutely illegal.
but they are trying to get around it by saying it's a "temporary" appointment, which would not require Senate confirmation.
we're witnessing Obstruction of Justice in real time, out in the daylight.
now will the GOP find their balls and step up? (yeah, I don't think so either)
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Nov 7, 2018 17:55:53 GMT -5
Can any of the lawyers here confirm? Is that actually illegal? It's not entirely clear and I see attorneys on both sides of the issue making arguments either way. And I can honestly say that it's way outside my bailiwick and I do not have time to do the research necessary to try to form an opinion. The argument that it's lawful appears to be tied to his being an acting officer pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 3345 and thus outside the requirements of the Vacancies Act. |
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Post by beccabear67 on Nov 8, 2018 0:52:46 GMT -5
Shouldn't the job go to Rod Rosenstein normally? It seems like Trump thinks nothing of ending the careers of various experienced law enforcement executives who've worked their way up in favor of parachuting in some far less qualified but extremely political functionary. "Warning, Rod Rosenstein, Warning! Danger, Rob Mueller, Danger!" |  |
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Post by EdoBosnar on Nov 8, 2018 3:09:55 GMT -5
Yeah, I was going to say that it seems like the job should have automatically gone to the AG's deputy, not his chief of staff, until proper appointment of a new AG, but it seems like Trump pretty much does whatever he wants and everybody else pretends it's o.k. Also, in this case I don't see the Senate doing anything meaningful either way, since since the margin of pro-Trump lickspittles there has grown slightly.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Nov 8, 2018 5:39:25 GMT -5
The Dow is up 500+ points...
I guess those dire warnings about the Dems being the heralds of a collapsing economy didn’t come from the business sector.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Nov 8, 2018 6:50:50 GMT -5
...and apparently the clear and immediate danger paused by a certain invasion of terrorist migrants has vanished like so much morning dew, now that the election is over. That’s the darndest thing! Every election it’s the same thing!
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Post by The Captain on Nov 8, 2018 7:07:15 GMT -5
Roquefort Raider, I read an interesting analysis piece yesterday that said the banks and financial markets love having Congress split, because the two sides will spend all of their time fighting each other and getting nothing done, which will allow the financial sector to run unimpeded. We're in for one year of jockeying for position and political posturing, then another year of presidential races, and no one is going to be focused on what Wall Street is doing. As for the caravan, Mayor McCheeto needed a boogeyman, and he found one ready-made coming up from Central America. All he needed was to scare the witless for a couple of weeks, but now that the election is over, he can go back to demonizing the media that doesn't kiss his orange ass and taking shots at Nancy Pelosi. The migrants served their purpose, and like everything in DJT's world, when something no longer has any utility to him, he gets rid of it.
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Post by Prince Hal on Nov 8, 2018 7:42:54 GMT -5
...and apparently the clear and immediate danger paused by a certain invasion of terrorist migrants has vanished like so much morning dew, now that the election is over. That’s the darndest thing! Every election it’s the same thing! The Mercury Theatre players would have been proud. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Nov 8, 2018 14:09:34 GMT -5
White House revoked credentials for CNN's John Acosta, which is being condemned all across the journalistic spectrum. The most accurate description of Trump and his tactics was from Trevor Noah, who called it back during the 2016 election; that Trump is an African dictator. All of his actions mirror people like Mugabe and Jacob Zuma (a favorite target of Noah's, in his earlier stand-up routines). All the decoration, all of the militaristic foot stomping and pageantry, all of the childish behavior, all of the paranoia, and the same targeting of perceived enemies, from without and from within.
There is a lot of questioning about where the Mueller investigation stands, in the wake of Sessions and Whitaker. Trump is too stupid to listen to sound advice (only that which tells him what he wants to hear); but, tring to shut things down directly or through Whitaker is the path to Nixon. And, Nixon didn't have near as many skeletons in his closet as Trump. That man-child is the equivalent of kicking over a hornets nest, while bathed in sugar and flailing your arms about. It won't end well.
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