Posts on Saturday, November 12, 2022
Senator Rick Scott, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, on Friday called the 2022 midterm elections a “complete disappointment.”
“Here’s what happened to us: Election Day, our voters didn’t show up, we didn’t get enough voters. It was a complete disappointment,” Scott said during an appearance on Fox News’s Hannity.
Host Sean Hannity asked, “Where did all this pie in the sky talk about a wave and a tsunami election come from? Because I never saw it.”
Support for a potential Donald Trump 2024 presidential bid has remained relatively steady over the last year and a half, data from a Morning Consult survey found.
While the survey asserts that Trump’s support has “dipped” in recent months, it is actually exactly the same as the survey taken in May 2021, which showed 48 percent of potential GOP voters supporting him. It is true, however, that he reached a high of 57 percent in August 2022, only to dip back down to 48 percent in November.Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has not overtly indicated an intention of running for president in 2024, but support for him has risen
Nevada incumbent Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto survived a challenge, defeating Republican Adam Laxalt and helping Democrats hold onto U.S. Senate, according to the Associated Press call of the race.
Nevada was one of Republicans' top targets as they tried to break the Senate's 50-50 split, and Cortez Masto's reelection was a toss-up coming into the election. She was running neck and neck with Laxalt, Nevada's former attorney general who has been endorsed by former President Donald Trump.
Cortez Masto served two terms as Nevada's attorney general before becoming the first Latina ever elected to the U.S. Senate in 2016. She campaigned on women's reproductive rights,
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Democrats’ decision to back an independent rather than nominate a member of their own party to take on Republican Mike Lee transformed the state’s U.S. Senate race from foregone conclusion to closely watched slugfest. (Snip) Ultimately, though, it wasn’t even close. Lee is on his way to a double-digit win. That’s spurring a debate: Did Democrats’ strategy create a blueprint to make Republicans campaign hard, compete for moderates and expend resources in future races? Or does the sizeable loss prove that Republicans’ vice grip is impenetrable in the short term, no matter the strategy?
Tiffany Trump said ‘I do’ to her billionaire beau Michael Boulos in a magical wedding under the fading Florida sunshine this evening.
Former President Donald Trump’s youngest daughter looked resplendent in an iridescent long sleeved gown, her blonde hair styled in sleek waves and set off by diamond and peaks drop earrings. Her white veil trailed majestically behind her.
The fairytale outdoor event started at 5pm with the blissful bride walking down the aisle towards a rhododendron festooned arch - thousands of blooms in dusty pink, blue and white.
Her father - dressed like all the male guests in a black tux and bow tie
When Washington Post associate editor Jonathan Capehart and New York Times columnist David Brooks joined PBS NewsHour host Judy Woodruff for their Friday recap of the week’s news, the natural topic of conversation was the election results. Capehart’s big takeaway was that things other than the economy, like abortion, saved Democrats while Brooks cheered the demise of populism inspired by Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, and Donald Trump.
After being asked by Woodruff what voters were saying on Tuesday, Capehart replied, “Simple message. Voters are trying to say, we can walk and chew gum at the same time.
Herschel Walker Says He Would Welcome
Trump As Others Say He Should Stay Out
of Georgia Runoff replies
Trump As Others Say He Should Stay Out
of Georgia Runoff replies
Despite what many Republicans are saying about former President Trump’s involvement in Georgia’s runoff election, Republican candidate Herschel Walker says that he would welcome the 45th president in a rally.
During an interview on Fox News, Walker was asked how he would feel if prominent GOP leaders, such as Trump, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla), and Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA), gathered in support at his side as the December 6 election nears.
Walker insisted that it would be a “totally ideal” situation if he could have them up on stage with him as he fights to take over Georgia’s Senate seat.
Republished with permission from American Wire News Service. ~~
Fox News asked Austin residents whether they thought it would be wise or acceptable for former President Trump to get back on Twitter now that Elon Musk owns the social media platform and got a variety of responses from across the political spectrum. (Video) Some were all for it especially since, constitutionally, it concerns free speech.
“Yes, I think that he should be back [on] Twitter,” one respondent named Adiba told Fox News. “He has his own opinions, so I would like to hear about him, too.” Others, not so much.
Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) on Friday shut down attempts to remove Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) from his leadership position in the Senate by writing a letter Friday to Republican senators denying their request to delay Wednesday’s leadership vote.
Barrasso, one of McConnell’s top lieutenants, wrote a letter Friday to GOP senators denying their request to delay Wednesday’s leadership vote until after all Senate votes had been counted.
“We look forward to meeting next week with our new and returning members. I expect a full and open discussion beginning at Tuesday’s policy lunch on our path forward,” he wrote in a letter obtained by CNN. “On Wednesday we will meet again
Florida’s fentanyl crisis is a “revolving door of overdose,” a top health official says.
According to Centers for Disease Control data, there were 7,738 reported overdose deaths in Florida between May 2020 to May 2021. From May 2021 to May 2022, that number rose to 7,942. According to Dr. Kenneth Scheppke, Deputy Secretary for Health at the Florida Department of Health (FDH), problems with illicit substances in the United States are nothing new, but they have become far more deadly because of fentanyl.
Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid up to 100 times more potent than morphine. As little as two milligrams, equivalent to five grains of salt, can be fatal.
Someone Paid $8 For Twitter Blue And Erased
$5 Billion In Market Cap From A Big Defense Company replies
$5 Billion In Market Cap From A Big Defense Company replies
When a wave of imposter accounts began using the verified checkmarks from Twitter’s Blue paid subscription service to post misleading tweets while pretending to be some of the world’s biggest brands, it created so much chaos that Elon Musk seemingly had no choice but to revoke the paid checkmarks entirely.
“Basically, tricking people is not OK,” Musk tweeted, as some users began reporting that the option to pay $7.99 for a Twitter Blue subscription had disappeared, while others who had been verified previously found that their “Official” blue checkmarks had been reinstated.
When you've lost Scott Adams...
replies
Earlier this morning, David looked at the startling way in which Winsome Sears cut her ties with Donald Trump after rising to prominence as a staunch soldier in the Trump army. That clearly caught some people by surprise, though not everyone. Sears wasn’t alone, however. Another fervent Trump supporter has appeared to similarly throw in the towel. Famed cartoonist Scott Adams, best known for his iconic Dilbert series, made a very brief but apparently definitive declaration on Twitter yesterday. He was responding to news that Trump was attacking Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin for reasons that weren’t entirely clear. This was apparently a bridge too far for Adams
George Carlin said it years ago: “It’s a big club, and you ain’t in it. You and I are not in the big club. And by the way, it’s the same big club they use to beat you over the head with all day long when they tell you what to believe. All day long beating you over the head in their media telling you what to believe, what to think, and what to buy. The table is tilted folks. The game is rigged, and nobody seems to notice, nobody seems to care.” Need proof? Check out the United Nations’ big COP27 climate summit
Is there something about being a historian on cable news that makes you say absurd things? History Prof. Ruth Ben-Ghiat joined the Saturday edition of Velshi on MSNBC to warn that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, or whoever “Fox News and Murdoc and the GOP elites” support intend to install an autocracy that will make it easier to wage coups. Meanwhile, the election results were said to reflect “reality” because a bunch of candidates won believe the country is for more than just Christian white men.
Host Ali Velshi had asked about “election deniers” like Arizona’s Kari Lake, but Ben-Ghiat wanted to talk about someone else
The obvious big winner for the Republicans in last Tuesday's midterm election is Florida's governor, Ron DeSantis. Not only did he hold on to his current job, but the overwhelming margin of his victory and the effectiveness of his statewide coattails have led him to eclipse Donald Trump as the party's true figurehead. I actually suspect that this was the plan all along — that Mr. Trump is really in no way eager to remain the media's punching bag. Now that DeSantis has proven his popularity, the transition to a more politically adept and comparable problem-solver will continue.
If I Were The Devil, updated
replies
On April 3, 1965, a mere 57 years ago, Paul Harvey gave a commentary on ABC radio entitled, “If I Were The Devil,” in which he laid out Satan’s plan for America. If you have never heard it, I suggest you listen to him as you read this because all of what he said indeed came true. Most men try to figure out what God’s plan is. Harvey worried about what the devil was up to.
If he were the devil, Harvey began, “I’d subvert the churches first (snip) With the wisdom of a serpent, I would whisper to you as I whispered to Eve: ‘Do as you please.’”
Ben Bergquam was outside the Maricopa County election center and followed a Penske truck leave the center and return to Runbeck. Once at Runbeck, the gate is closed. Every mail-in ballot that is returned in the county is sent to Runbeck first. Runbeck is scanning the Maricopa ballots before they are sent to the Maricopa County Elections Center. CORRECTION*
It suffices to say that Election Day didn't go as planned for some polling places that experienced and are still experiencing ballot-counting issues. Despite the varying election-related difficulties, multiple jurisdictions share one foreseen commonality. There's a common thread connecting five counties spread across several states that were in disarray on Election Day: federal "monitors."
On the eve of the elections, the Biden administration's Department of Justice announced Monday it would be dispatching such monitors to as many as 64 jurisdictions in almost half of U.S. states on Election Day to oversee federal election law "compliance."
Chloe Cole, who was prescribed puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and then had her breasts removed when she was 15, says she will sue the medical group and hospital that facilitated the gender transition as a minor she now deeply regrets.
“The adults who were supposed to take care of and guide me as a child failed to do so and they will take responsibility for it,” (snip)
Cole, now 18 years old, and her legal team(snip) sent a letter of intent on Nov. 9 to sue the Permanente Medical Group, (snip) who “performed, supervised, and/or advised transgender hormone therapy and surgical intervention(snip)when she was between 13-17 years old.”
We now have a pretty clear picture of how the 2022 election went. Far from the overwhelming predictions of a red wave (by myself included, even if my predictions were criticized pre-election as being too understated), the end result is an unmitigated disaster for the Republican Party and the country. Democrats have been handed a fresh mandate, holding the Senate and perhaps only losing the House by a vote or two. With those margins, it’ll be easy to peel off a few blue-state Republicans to pass objectionable bills. In short, not only has nothing changed but the left has been energized by a political outcome
Have you noted the shining faces of RINOs on broadcast TV in the past few days? Do they not look relieved? Their grins are wide, their auras shimmering with greed. (Snip)
Did we really think that the people in power could afford a resounding victory for populists? Many of them belong in jail, all of them are on the take, from county councilor to lobbyist to senior bureaucrat to judge, and most of them live their lives swinging between triumph and terror that they will be caught.
Whitney Webb’s One Nation under Blackmail published late last month, explains in exhaustive detail how the American government was taken over by well-dressed thieves.
A new study of nationwide hospital databases found that at least 1,130 adolescents between 2016 and 2019 received “gender-affirming” chest surgeries in the U.S.
The study, published in JAMA Pediatrics, saw a 389% increase in adolescents (ages 12-17) obtaining chest surgeries from 2016 to 2019. An overwhelming majority (1,114) of the adolescents seeking this surgery were female (98.6%), and just 16 were male (1.4%).
“To our knowledge, this study is the largest investigation to date of gender-affirming chest reconstruction in a pediatric population,” the paper’s authors wrote,
Election night did not deliver the overwhelming victory Republicans had hoped for on a national level, but on a local level — in school board races — conservatives picked up a wave of wins across the country.
This week, conservatives flipped at least nine school boards in at least six states — Michigan, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, New Jersey, and Florida — giving them conservative majorities, according to two parental rights groups who endorsed many of the victorious candidates.
The wins signal that parental rights were a significant factor at the ballot box on Tuesday.
California has long faced criticism for driving away businesses and workers, due to high taxes and prices and tough regulations.
A few high-profile business titans have loudly departed, most notably Tesla and SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk, who moved Tesla's headquarters — and himself — to Texas (snip) (though SpaceX remains headquartered in Southern California).
Nonetheless, there are mounting predictions from some economists that the Golden State could soon surpass Germany to become the world's fourth-largest economy.Moving from the world's fifth- to fourth-largest economy would be another step up for California — which would trail only the U.S., China and Japan.(snip) California grew faster than the U.S., on average,
Former President Donald Trump has superpowers. That much was established when he first stepped onto the political scene in 2015 and demonstrated his uncanny ability to transform folks on the left into crazed caricatures of themselves just by giving an utterance. It seemed that anytime he so much as sneezed, it immediately caused those who are left of center to have a collective meltdown. But now, he has revealed another superhuman talent: The ability to turn Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis into a Romneyesque neocon just by saying unkind words about him. That’s right. Ever since Trump took a few shots at the person believed to be his most formidable opponent
President Biden has now twice referred to Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit host Cambodia as Colombia, including Saturday during remarks opening the talks. "It was an honor to host at the White House in May, and now that we are back together in Cambodia," Biden said as he opened the talks. "I look forward to building even stronger progress than we've already made. I want to thank the prime minister for Colombia's leadership as ASEAN chair." The president was speaking from Cambodia, the site of the ASEAN meeting, chaired by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.
Despite the lack of a red wave, Republicans are still on track to win control of the U.S. House of Representatives. And with that control comes the power of oversight, which has been sadly lacking since Biden took office. On Friday, Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), the ranking Republican on the Oversight Committee, told guest host Pete Hegseth on Jesse Waters Primetime that, when he becomes chair of the committee in January, his top priority will be investigating Hunter Biden, Dr. Anthony Fauci’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the border crisis.
“There’s so much for you to oversee on the Oversight Committee,” Hegseth began. “Where does this rank in the priority?
President Joe Biden committed the first gaffe of his trip to Asia Saturday within the first seconds of his opening remarks, when he mistakenly referred to his Cambodian host as the head of Colombia.
Biden spoke seconds after Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has ruled the country for 37 years and is using the ASEAN summit as a showcase for his nation.
'I want to thank the prime minister of Colombia for his leadership as ASEAN chair,' Biden said at the top of his remarks, stumbling over the word and moving on without correcting it.
Biden, 79, sounded subdued as he read his remarks from a script.
Despite Lee Zeldin’s bid to unseat incumbent New York Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul being unsuccessful, the Republican’s candidacy created significant inroads for other GOP candidates across the Empire State, and could turn out to be the unsung savior of the House majority.
Zeldin, who conceded to Hochul on Wednesday after running one of the closest gubernatorial races in New York in 20 years, acknowledged his success in helping other Republicans win in the Empire State — which amounted to 11 House seats for the GOP, including flipping the one held by Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) Chair Rep. Sean Maloney (D-NY).
Blake Masters Rips McConnell — ‘He
Doesn’t Deserve to Be a Majority Leader
or a Minority Leader’ replies
Doesn’t Deserve to Be a Majority Leader
or a Minority Leader’ replies
Friday on FNC’s “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” Arizona Republican U.S. Senate nominee Blake Masters, claiming to still be in the running for Arizona’s contested U.S. Senate seat, questioned Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s decision to put resources into backing Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) against Republican Kelly Tshibaka in Alaska while taking a pass on support for Masters in Arizona.
Masters made it clear he would not back McConnell for caucus leader should he win the Arizona seat.
A left-wing grassroots organization launched a campaign this week to pressure President Biden not to run for reelection in 2024. RootsAction, which backed the presidential bids of Vermont Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders in 2016 and 2020, introduced its "Don't Run Joe" digital ad campaign Wednesday, just one day after the midterm elections, the Washington Times reports. (Snip) In a statement on the Don't Run Joe website, the campaign's backers argue it would be a "tragic mistake" for Democrats to renominate Biden. "Unfortunately, President Biden has been neither bold nor inspiring. And his prospects for winning reelection appear to be bleak
Democratic strategist James Carville said Thursday Democrats would be “better off” focusing their efforts on Mississippi rather than Florida after Republicans swept the elections in the Sunshine State.
Carville joined MSNBC’s “The Reid Out” and was discussing the recent midterm elections and the difficulty of getting black voters to turn out. Carville said that Mississippi’s black population is nearly one-third of the state total, which means Democrats have some room for growth.
Nevada Republican Adam Laxalt’s Senate
campaign ‘bracing for a loss,’ prepping
for recount: report replies
campaign ‘bracing for a loss,’ prepping
for recount: report replies
As Republican Adam Laxalt’s lead in the Nevada Senate race dwindles with 93% of the vote counted, his campaign is reportedly “bracing for a loss” and weighing asking for a recount.
Laxalt is ahead of incumbent Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto by just 800 votes after 23,000 mail-in ballots were tabulated in Clark County on Friday. The results from the mail-in ballots are favoring Cortez Masto at a 2-1 rate. Clark County, home to Las Vegas, reportedly has about 27,000 mail-in ballots left to be counted.
As Nicole threatens the Carolinas and Virginia on Friday with tornadoes and flooding, Floridians -- many still recovering from Hurricane Ian -- are picking up the pieces after this week's storm killed at least five people and ripped apart buildings with its dangerous storm surge and powerful winds.In Volusia County, Florida, at least 49 beachfront properties, including hotels and condos, have been deemed "unsafe" in the aftermath of Nicole, which hit Florida's eastern coast south of Vero Beach as a Category 1 hurricane early Thursday before weakening into a tropical storm and eventually becoming a post-tropical cyclone Friday afternoon.
"The structural damage along our coastline is unprecedented,"
Control of the Senate still hung in the balance on Friday, forcing Senate Republicans to briefly put aside their intraparty blame game as they go all-in on winning Georgia’s Senate runoff.
The Senate majority could be decided in the coming days if Democrats defend the seats they hold in both Arizona and Nevada, where votes continue to be counted. But if the GOP picks up just one of those seats, Senate control will be determined by a Dec. 6 runoff election in the Peach State.
GOP operatives continued to express optimism about the party’s chances of picking up a seat in Nevada
The Biden administration has stopped taking applications for its student debt forgiveness program, citing a Thursday ruling from a federal judge in Texas that declared the program "unlawful."
On Friday, the Department of Education's student debt relief website displayed a message informing borrowers that "student loan debt relief is blocked." It added, "Courts have issued orders blocking our student debt relief program. As a result, at this time, we are not accepting applications. We are seeking to overturn those orders." The Education Department said it will hold the applications for the roughly 26 million people who have already applied for forgiveness.
Former President Donald Trump has sued the House select committee investigating January 6, 2021, as a way to challenge its subpoena for documents and his testimony, according to filings in a federal court in Florida.
Trump is challenging both the legitimacy of the committee -- which multiple courts have upheld -- and is claiming he should be immune from testimony about the time he was president.
Trump's lawyers say they've communicated with the House over the past week and a half as the subpoena deadlines neared, offering to consider answering written questions while expressing "concerns and objections"
Phoenix - Incumbent Democrat Mark Kelly defeated Republican Blake Masters on Friday to win a U.S. Senate seat in Arizona, a contest that left Democrats one seat short in the battle for control of the chamber with two more races to be decided.
The win by Kelly, a former astronaut whose wife, Gabby Giffords, survived an assassination attempt when she was a U.S. lawmaker, meant Democrats had battled to a 49-49 tie in the race for the Senate. "I'm humbled by the trust our state has placed in me to continue this work," Kelly said on Twitter. Control of the Senate - and the shape of President