Fake Moderates

One of my (numerous) media pet peeves is how the press treats Republican "moderates." Everybody actually knows that Collins' whole schtick was too make concerned noises but never actually do anything when it mattered. That was rarely how she was covered by the mainstream press, however.

They used to call Lindsey Graham (!!)  a moderate when he did some obvious kayfabe.

About the only Mavericky thing John McCain ever actually did was his health care vote during Trump I. I will give him credit for that. Otherwise...

Anyway, we won't have Susan Collins to kick around anymore!

Heckuva Job, Elon

The not many suckers who bought it are probably gonna run out of repair parts soon.

Elon Musk has announced that Tesla will wind down production of its Cybertruck, marking the end of a failed effort to take a chunk of the lucrative market for pickups in the US.

New Team In Charge

I can't even begin to fathom what it must be like in Texas right now. A power structure that has been in place for decades is just being chucked out

We will see if the Dems there use their power!

Morning

 Blue Friday

Oh No Stonks

Bad day at the dog track

The Deposed Queen Of Maine

I bet there are tons of people in Maine who are thrilled they no longer have to kiss her ass.

“Everybody ignores the fact that I voted to convict him in the second impeachment trial,” Ms. Collins said. “What bigger break could there be? It is never enough. I want results and they want angry rhetoric.”

On top of dissatisfaction that she hadn’t distanced herself sufficiently from the president, some voters harbored resentment about her vote in 2018 to confirm Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, given his later role in overturning Roe v. Wade.

A good sequence of paragraphs. The only type of results she ever got. Her 'only do something when it doesn't matter' strategy wasn't enough for those ungrateful voters. Unfair! 

Run Away

Harmeet Dhillon resigning. Probably Rubio next.

The Panopticon Is For The Scum People, Not Me

Hilarious.

Katie Miller, conservative podcaster and wife of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, told CBS News that she didn't vote in Tuesday's midterm elections moments after suggesting that moms staying at home were partially to blame for the seismic Republican losses.

"You see that moms are too busy raising their children and taking care of them to go to the polls," Miller, who has four children, told CBS News' Norah O'Donnell on election night.

Asked whether she had voted herself, Miller said she had not.

"I did not vote in Virginia because, in Virginia, when you vote, you dox your own address, and so I prefer my own safety and security over giving that up," she said.

The Millers live in military base housing with enhanced personal security, similar to several other high-ranking Trump administration officials, including Marco Rubio and Pete Hegseth.

Not sure what's happening here, but it's funny. 

 

Sinking Ships

A great thing about Republicans losing so many House and Senate seats is that so many of the worst people in America - young Republican staffers - are losing their jobs.

They will all be scrambling to join campaign teams for various 2028 candidates.

The Trump era is over, though of course dying emperors can burn the place down on the way out. Wormtongue Miller is still there.

Flee to Argentina while you can, Stephen!

The Great Noticing

There are no rules for this stuff - Clinton was very popular when the entire press corps tried to destroy him (and whatever you thought of all of that, the coverage was unhinged) - but they are slightly more likely to feel emboldened to kick an unpopular president, especially if that president is a Republican.

The subtext of this article is Trump is nuts and tuned out. We haven't reached text, yet.

A surreal scene played out on Wednesday as the president led reporters through the White House ballroom to inspect its progress. He pointed out beams, talked about varieties of marble and generally shrugged off what had happened the night before as though it wasn’t the bloodiest political blood bath in this country since 1976 — as though he hadn’t just seen Texas turn blue.

Eventually journalists will start telling us what they know

Morning

Late start. Minor (solved) emergency.

Young Pete

I first saw this recently and thought it was very interesting! Yes I know younger Pete was in Genesis

Happy Hour

 Get happy.

The Senate

2 for California, 2 for Montana is ridiculous, but I don't think Dems get enough credit for actually winning a majority. I mean, ever. It is certainly rigged against them.  That they ever get above about 42 is a bit of miracle.

Gone And Forgotten

I don't always dance on the graves of the dead, but Lindsey Graham was a monster and lol no one will remember him in 3 years.

For My Amusment

I don't know if it matters much, but it would be funny.

Washington — President Trump has been asking advisers around him and on the phone whether Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth should stay in his job, following Republicans' catastrophic losses Tuesday night, multiple sources familiar with the matter tell CBS News. 

Retirement Home

I keep hitting this elder care issue in part because I get a lot of pushback. It really is one reason why electeds try to hang on so long, and this has been privately confirmed to me by staffers. 

Unless you are a rich person (common in Congress) who has had a private staff for years (much less common), there is no way that you can buy the kind of care that a member of Congress can get.

Elder care doesn't mean "wiping your ass." It isn't medical or nursing aid care.  It means handling your basic daily affairs, mostly. 

One difficulty with a private staff is you have to manage the staff. The United States Congress is an employer that handles most of the staffing issues. You also have eager overeducated people willing and able to put in extra effort, to put up with shit they wouldn't from other bosses.

Sure a rich person can hire a staff, but that's hard and they mostly won't be the Ivy grads who chuck their CVs at your office constantly.

If you do have money, you can plan for these things, but for these people, this was their plan.

Who

I guess I had heard of this guy.

BREAKING on MS NOW: Mike Johnson will NOT run for House Minority Leader.

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1.bsky.social) November 4, 2026 at 3:10 PM

TALAFREEKO

Texas has had an odd place in culture my whole life. The Dallas Cowboys - and their cheerleaders, of course - were, for reasons I can't explain, America's Team for a long while. It wasn't always hardcore conservative in that context, but it was, well, Texas.

Things are changing.

Blue Texas

One election does not make it solidly blue, but Texas being in play for presidential elections will likely change how "we" talk about the electoral college.

Texas+California is 40+54.

People lie every 4 years and say the EC ensures that small states are not overlooked, when the opposite is true. Republicans might suddenly start hating the EC and might even start being more honest about it.