stevenkesslar

I'm starting a thread to post autopsies about what Democrats did wrong. I'll call this one the "The One Percent Hope" autopsy, for reasons I'll outline below. I personally believe in the "Someone In The Crowd" theory of how Democrats will fix this problem. The best example is the post-2012 Mitt Romney autopsy. Republicans decided they needed to stop telling Latinos to "self-deport." They needed to find a candidate who was friendlier to Hispanics. And then came Trump and "Mexican rapists" in 2016. Despite the fact that he won, Trump did about as shitty as most Republicans usually do among Latinos. And now it's 2024, and look at where we are. So maybe the Republicans stumbled on the right guy after all. He certainly was not the GOP Establishment's first choice. We'll know the right person comes along - Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump - when it happens. I cite those four because they all won two terms. While it will involve policies, it will be more about the person and how he (no such luck for she) resonates with voters. Trump has clearly taken over the Republican Party. Like the other three, he is a conviction politician. As W. said, you may not agree with me. But at least you know where I stand. So who better to start an autopsy with than a young, and hot, doctor: John from Tennessee: This is typical of Mark Halperin's 2Way. What I like best about it is that the venue does attract lots of people who voted every which way, or not at all. They are encouraged and able to talk politely to each other. I'm pretty sure the venue attracts people who are more centrist than extreme in their views, regardless of which candidate they supported. Which leads to the thing I like least about this venue: it often feels like a celebration of cynicism. A lot of Halperin's followers don't like either candidate, or either party. So it often feels like an echo chamber of how bad things suck. Halperin himself has a big axe to grind with the mainstream media he used to be a star of. John, earnest and still clinging to hope, fits right in. The comments on this video (if you go to the YouTube page) are interesting to read. They are overwhelmingly positive. A lot of people say John speaks for me. One says he speaks for "millions" of voters. Which is probably true, if we are talking about Millennials and Gen Z. The two two-term Presidents that I came of age under were Reagan and Clinton. Both men left office having greatly restored faith in government. In 1988 and 2000, just under half of Americans felt we could trust the federal government to do the right thing most of the time, compared to about 25 % when both men entered office. It's been all downhill from there. As John mentions: 9/11, the Iraq War, the financial crisis and "the Greenspan economy", then the pandemic and inflation. Rising income inequality and a working class that has at best been stuck for decades. Unlike Boomers and Gen X, who came of age under Presidents that somehow got people to trust government more, Millennials and Gen Z have always lived in a nation where most people have little or no faith in government. What's striking to me about almost every Millennials and Zoomer I know is their lack of faith in just about every institution. Including of course political parties. The phrase that most resonated for me is "the Greenspan economy". As in, reward bad Wall Street (or Trump?) behavior, and let them drive the economy over the cliff. And then bail them out. That has to be at the top of the list of what broke faith in US government, even above W.'s Iraq War. And it happened under Obama. I think the comments accurately reflect how the seeming multitudes of disappointed or pissed young voters hurt Harris. John is probably not in the group of Zoomers and Millennials who can't afford to buy a home, or struggle to pay for rent or child care. But the feeling that nothing works, and voting for Harris won't do any good, is a recipe for Trumpism. Chris Christie speculated in the last weeks of the campaign that Trump was intentionally trying to make everything seem like shit, just to depress turnout among potential Harris supporters. Why have hope? John wants to believe in someone like Obama, and once did. But if we're just going to be cynical, why not vote for somebody like RFK who can't win? While meanwhile the true believers elect a Wrecking Ball in Chief? John's up for it, since it at least gives him a 1 % Hope. Maybe Bobby Kennedy can do some good. My category for this is that desperate people do desperate things. Or they just don't vote. The idea of reluctant Trump supporters having a 1 % Hope actually gives me hope, but in a weird way. It immediately reminded me of Dick Cheney's One Percent Doctrine. Meaning if there is a 1 % chance that Iraq has WMD, we have to treat it as a certainty that they have WMD. That did not end well. The 1 % Hope among people like John that maybe something good will come out of putting some weird mix of Donald Trump and Bobby Kennedy and Tulsi Gabbard together sounds about as far fetched. I think it has a 99 % chance of not ending well, just like Iraq did. Trump will fire them if and when they don't do what he wants, most likely. By 2026, like in 2018, people like John will probably be eager to move on to something, and someone, else. It made me laugh when Kristen, the Republican, argued that Trump - unlike Democrats - met people who were angry at "corporate elites" where they were at in 2016. I guess giving tax breaks to billionaires and corporations is the next best thing to Bernie Sanders, huh? 😉 That sure taught corporate elites and Trump donors a lesson in humility! If this is our 1 % Hope, I just don't think this ends well. John's lack of hope in Harris also speaks to what is Kamala Harris's fatal flaw. I've voted for her every time she was on my ballot in California. If she runs for Governor of California, I'll happily vote for her again. But I would never accuse her of being Paul Wellstone or Jeff Merkley, two conviction politicians I knew well when they were nobodies. Both of them managed to win US Senate seats by exuding authenticity long before they ran for anything. And convincing people they would fight for them. I don't think Harris has ever had that, or ever will. John certainly did not feel the vibe. Halperin's 2Way was loaded with voters who did not like Trump, but also did not feel they knew what Harris really stood for. Or, worse, that she was just a phony. Which is a shame. Because she is a great role model. And she had a bunch of modest but pragmatic policies that would have helped people in lots of small ways. Which is maybe what Democrats need in an era when we are a country split right down the middle. Had she won, her caution and fluidity might have worked well in a political environment where you win by inches and compromise. But it seems like it was not an asset in persuading voters. If this were 1988, and she were running to replace a popular two term President like Bush 41 was, her perceived lack of conviction probably wouldn't matter. In 2024, when she had to outrace a wall of lava that would have buried Biden alive, I do think it hurt her. What Democrats need most now is someone like Clinton and Obama with convictions, who can put a new coalition together. I don't think that person has to be White, or male. But I think we now know if they ain't convincing to the working class, we ain't gonna be able to win. And since I named what I see as Harris's worst quality, I'll end with saying what I am grateful to her for. I think the money, volunteers, and energy she brought in saved four of five US Senators that could be saved. Bob Casey was the one close call that didn't make it. I think Gallego, Rosen, Slotkin, and our lesbian sister Baldwin would have all lost with Biden on the top of the ticket. As of right now Democrat Derek Tram has taken a 40 vote lead in one of the few remaining House races, in Orange County. Has anyone else noticed that this "landslide" is nothing like the Reagan landslides of 1980 and 1984, including in the former heart of Reagan country? If Tram ekes out a narrow win, it means Democrats will actually gain one House seat from their 2022 performance. Not the victory I hoped for. But so much for a Trump landslide.

Wow! You're not being truthful, are you? Why are you a pro-Genocide Jew? And will Elise Stefanik and Mike Huckabee be pro-Genocide? It sure sounds like it. Over 1 in 3 younger American Jews think Israel is a Genocide Nation. I'm guessing if polls were available from the 1940's that's a higher percentage than Germans who thought their nation was committing genocide. Why is this? What is it about Jewish liberals that makes them find genocide so offensive? And why do you think they are wrong? New all population Israeli-Palestinian survey: 45% of those living between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea believe “apartheid” is an appropriate description of the regime Of course, 3 in 4 Palestinians think Israel is an apartheid state. I have not seen a poll on what Palestinians say about Bibi The Baby Killer and genocide. But who the fuck cares what Palestinians think? It's just propaganda. There is a simple solution to that. Kill them. Why are you a pro-Genocide Jew?

Quelle surprise. You're into lies, not truth. Let alone reflection. You're about as reflective as Roy Cohn. And probably about as Gay, too. Enjoy your cruelty while it lasts. It won't last long.

Lies, lies, lies. You go girl. (You are not a girl, probably not Gay, and certainly not transgender. Screw fighting for those losers!) Last I checked, Blacks and Latinos voted against Trump. If only Latinos and Blacks voted, Harris would have won in a landslide. What did I miss? I will repeat what I said once already. Not that you care about truth. I think 2024 was a victory for multi-racial democracy. Latinos, and to some extent Black men, said we'll vote as we damn well please. That is what democracy is all about. Lots of Blacks are conservative. Lots of Black leaders have said for decades that if the Republican Party were not so damn racist, more Blacks would vote Republican. So 2024 is a testament to all that, in a very messy way. As far as I can tell, Blacks are now the opposite of Whites on party switching. The Whites who are increasingly voting Democratic are affluent and have college degrees. And are into a multi-racial and multi-cultural open society. I'm one of those Gays guys. The Blacks who are switching to MAGA are more likely to be young, affluent and upwardly mobile, and college-educated. At least the Black leaders who get elected to Congress. They look at the Republican Party and see Tim Scott, a Republican Senator from South Carolina. Which used to be where Strom Thurmond switched to being a Republican to keep Blacks down. That is a very black and white change, pun intended. So I actually think this is good for democracy. I will take credit for what Nancy Pelosi and Democrats forced Republicans to do, thank you. And this is not me lying and being cruel. This is what RINO loser Kevin McCarthy believes. McCarthy said he looked around the House floor during the 2018 SOTU and saw lots of women and people of color - who were all Democrats. So he went out and recruited conservative women and people of color, and backed them in primaries. It took years and multiple election cycles. But it is working. What was Kevin McCarthy's reward? He got fired by Matt Gaetz, who RINO John Cornyn perhaps thinks is a pedophile. So if you think racist sexist rapist felon Trump is somehow leading the charge for Blacks and Latinos becoming Republicans, better get out of your lies and cruelty. But, I know. You can't do that. Here's what Democrats can and should do. They need to do exactly what McCarthy did. Go out and find working class people who sound like and look like working class people, and back them in primaries. And do it over multiple election cycles. And don't do one thing for working class people. Do 30 things. And talk about it constantly. All you are good at is coming here to push lies and cruelty, as if they are good for democracy. Mentiras, mentiras, solamente mentiras! Why do you lie all the time? The nice thing about Democrats is we usually focus on facts, not Trumpian lies and cruelty. So those are the facts above, which I updated from a Pew study. The bad news for Democrats is that this is as bad as it gets. Unless we knowingly let it get worse. Harris did about as poorly with Latinos as Carter did in 1980. So anybody who thinks this is a new trend is just into the Trump lies of the moment, or poor journalism. It's probably not a coincidence that 1980 and 2024 were both elections that happened after a big spike in inflation, where people felt the costs of living were out of control. The good news for Democrats is that this is as bad as it gets. If we make it get better. History is on our side. It's a bit of a surprise that Mondale did better than Carter, and then Dukakis did better than Mondale, among Latinos. What is most clear from that chart is that Latinos punished Carter in 1980, and Bush in 1992, and Harris in 2024, because of the economy, stupid. They rewarded Clinton in 1996 and Obama in 2012 because of the economy, stupid. And it needs to be repeated 1000 times that in 2012 Obama got more votes from Latinos than almost any POTUS, except Clinton in 1992. Despite the fact that many left-wing immigration groups labeled Obama "Deporter In Chief". We now know for a fact that Obama got it right, and Biden fucked up and went too far. Some of that knee jerk Latino support for Democrats may now be broken. But I don't think we know that yet. Anymore than we did in 1980. When Trump starts separating parents and children again, we'll see how long Trump's Latino moment lasts. Latinos despised LatinX, for sure. But that's just a dumb word. I'm guessing they'll despise Trump's cruel anti-familia deportation policies more. But what do I know? We'll see. TRUMP2024 MAGA MENTIRAS MENTIRAS SOLAMENTE MENTIRAS

Again, you excel at lies and cruelty. I'm glad you are so proud of yourself. Because nobody but MAGA extremists are proud of their own lies and cruelty. But why help Muslim kids, or Black kids, or Latino kids? Kick 'em in the fuckin teeth. Cut their health care. Give the money to tax cuts for billionaires! We need to be cruel, and pure. And we need to be proud of it. None of this vermin shit. Vermin need to be gotten rid of. And, no, I am not a Hitler fan. This is just what the Trump landslide majority stands for! Be proud of it! Get on board! And be proud of lying! It is patriotic! Joe Biden favorability rating: 40/55 - 15 % unfavorable Donald Trump favorability rating: 44/51 - 7 % unfavorable JD Vance favorability rating: 39/44 - 5 % unfavorable Kamala Harris favorability rating: 46/48 - 2 % unfavorable Tim Walz favorability rating: 41/39 + 2 favorable There is every reason to think that the two people at the bottom of the list, who were viewed the most favorably, would have won but for the guy at the top of the list, Joe Biden, who was viewed most unfavorably. "Bidenomics" pretty much sums up why that is. The fact that Biden saw "Bidenomics" as a plus, even as David Axelrod groaned loudly, explains why so many people saw Biden as out of touch with their paycheck to paycheck struggles. I will give JD Vance this. He won the Veep debate. Which as much as any moment can be viewed as when the winning momentum shifted. He gave a way more coherent defense of MAGA than Trump did. Walz told Team Harris during his job interview that he was not a good debater. So one can argue that was a fatal error. But I'm with Ron Brownstein. The 2 - 4 % incumbent penalty was so broad all over the country - probably moreso in very blue states - that nothing Walz said or did could have stopped the wall of lava. Speaking of blue states, I think the best thing that can be said about Walz is that he comes across as authentic. And he delivered. He actually produced at least some popular programs for women and kids in his state. The massive frustration of the working class is that Biden/Harris did not produce on child care. They did not produce on rent. They did not produce on the cost of living. They did produce on child tax credits, for one year. They did produce on health care premium assistance. And now Trump will take that away to give it to his rich donors as tax cuts. Woo hoo! That's probably why what Walz stood for was viewed net favorably. But it was not enough. And that's just my Wellstone Minnesota Farmer/Labor instincts speaking. What are they, compared to the glorious lies and cruelty of MAGA? You are on a roll with your @EmmetKruelty. Kick the fucking children in the teeth! Especially the transgender ones! Take their tax credits and free lunches away! Have sex with them, and cover it up! You go, girl. (Not that you are Gay, or worse, transgender.) More lies! TRUMP2024 MAGA LIES LIES & MORE LIES

Actually, I'm proud of that. Every bit as proud as you are proud of your cruelty and lies. Here's who I backed financially: Jon Tester - lost Sherrod Brown - lost Will Rollins - lost Kamala Harris - lost The first two were almost sure losers. The second two are ones I thought could win. And would have won if Democrats didn't pay a roughly 2 to 4 % incumbency penalty thanks to inflation. It was a 2 % penalty in the swing states, thanks to the Harris ground game, money, and volunteers. But more like a 4 % penalty in California. I correctly predicted who might need my help to win. It wasn't enough. Had I known how deep the anger and cynicism among the working class was, I would have backed Casey instead of Tester. My bad! What a loser I am! By comparison, your cruelty and lies are perfect. Of course you should be proud of yourself! What are you proud of? Throwing trans kids under the bus. Why show any compassion whatsoever? They are great political targets. Duh! Kick them in the fucking teeth. What are you proud of? Getting in bed with evangelicals who deeply oppose same sex marriage and will make it illegal again the minute they have the power to. You are proud of lying through your teeth that this is a fact. You are proud of your lies and cruelty. What are you proud of? In a better world, we could punish liberal unpatriotic and disloyal losers like John Cornyn by injecting bleach in his brain. Sadly, it is just not that simple. What the fuck is he thinking? Standing up for some woman who says Matt Gaetz had sex with her as a child? Liar! Standing up for her lawyer, who is no doubt a Democrat who should be disbarred? Liar! Cornyn needs to understand patriotism. Cornyn needs to understand loyalty! Otherwise, he needs to be primaried. You are proud of lies. You are proud of cruelty! ALL ABOOOOOOOOARD! TRUMP2024 MAGA LIES CRUELTY RAPE SEX WITH CHILDREN EXTREMISM

I'll push back on that part. We DID know. Yes, Trump tried to cover up COVID. But that was his downfall. It quickly became clear that he was lying, and he didn't know what the fuck he was doing. It was personal to me in this sense. I watched it radicalize two of my brothers. One voted for Trump in 2016. The other is what I think of as a Bloomberg Democrat. Trump drove both of them completely over the edge during the period you are describing. Now they despise Trump, and voted for Harris. And there is no going back. They are not going to give him the benefit of the doubt. So as soon as Trump appoints someone like Gaetz in a "recess", if Republicans let him get away with it, Trump simply confirms to my brothers that he is the lying incompetent piece of shit that they saw him as during the COVID fiasco. They are perfect examples of college educated White men that the Republican Party has lost. When Trump tests every limit of the Constitution, he will lose them even more. They will crawl over glass to vote Democratic in 2026 and 2028. It needs to be mentioned that they are both relatively affluent, own homes and stock accounts, and are retired. They have the luxury of not worrying about mortgage interest rates, because they own their homes free and clear. Here's what I worry about. It's the economy, stupid. There were clearly a bunch of younger and non-White voters who were so down on Biden and Harris that they didn't bother to vote. Harris was down millions of votes from 2020. And most of them did not go to Trump. And then there were at least several million voters who flipped from Biden to Trump because of inflation. And the feeling that Biden was out of touch and didn't do shit to actually help them put food on the table. Or get child care. Or pay rent. Which is true enough. People who were helped by expanded child tax credits, but more than anything wanted to work hard and get ahead, ended up with neither. And they were not into the nuances of how Democrats really wanted them to at least have a child tax credit, but Joe Manchin wouldn't let them. At the end of the day, the feeling was they're not really fighting and winning for the working class. That is how millions of people felt. Including lots of Harris voters. And some who flipped and said, "Fuck it. I'll vote for Trump." Even one week into this mess it is already clear that Trump is going to go to the extreme, not the center. What a shocker! He can't cancel the midterms. So without the benefit of Alan Lichtman I'll predict that Trump might get a big negative reaction in 2026, just like he did in 2018. The thing that will help Trump, and should, is if working class people do feel better off in 2028 than they were four years ago. So what it comes down to is the economy, stupid. And can Democrats actually figure out a way to fight for the working class, and win? If there is any benefit to this election, it is that Democrats only lost narrowly. Harris lost by about half of Trump's losing margin in 2020. Democrats may actually gain one House seat compared to 2022. And the reason why we lost is so incredibly black and white that there is really only one question that everybody who does not want MAGA authoritarian rule needs to focus on very hard: can Democrats actually fight for and win the working class?

Donald Trump won in a landslide in 2024. After having the election stolen from him in 2020. Patriots have tried to defend democracy ever since. Facts show this. In 2010, unpopular Democrats lost 63 House seats. In 2024, unpopular Democrats lost zero House seats. The mandate for Trump Truth is clear and overwhelming. in most swing states, like Arizona, Nevada, Michigan, and Wisconsin, Trump loyalists like Rosen, Gallego, Baldwin, and Slotkin won. The people have spoken. Listen up, assholes. Now is the time for losers to get on board. We need an Attorney General who embraces lawlessness and loyalty to Trump. There is no reason RINOs like John Cornyn should insist that we need to know whether the Attorney General had sex with a child. Or follows any law, other than the law of Trump. That loser child and her loser attorney are lying. Just like that E. Jean Carroll bitch and all the disloyal Vice Presidents and Generals that lie, lie, lie. Disloyal losers! We need a House Speaker that honors the proud tradition of covering up having sex with a child and being loyal to Trump. The voters overwhelmingly endorsed this by electing ZERO new Republicans. Shut the fuck up and listen, losers. Get on board. We need a Defense Secretary who is loyal to Trump, not the Constitution. The people voted for a ruler who abhors extremism, like doing what the Constitution says, and embraces loyalty. There is nothing wrong with a day of love like January 6th. It is disloyal and un-American to even think about questioning what members of the US military did on Jan. 6th. And that is not even to mention THE GAYS IN THE MILITARY and the FAKE MEN TRANS SHIT IN THE MILITARY and WOMEN IN THE MILITARY. Ugh! Losers, get on board. Trump Truth won in a landslide!!!!!!! Loyalty to Trump is what matters now. Don't be a loser, like all the RINOs we will purge. (This truthful message was paid for by the American Love Committee For Loyalty And @EmmetKruelty.)

Nor did I. Your posts are always a glorious and loving potpourri of cruelty and lies. Why are you so cruel? Why is Mike Johnson covering up that Matt Gaetz had sex with a child? Why is Trump appointing a loyalist AG who believes in lawlessness? Lies and cruelty. Lies and cruelty. Lies and cruelty. Choo choo! All aboard. Having a Defense Secretary and Attorney General who defend extremism and lawlessness and are absolutely loyal to Trump gives a pretty clear direction of where the glorious Trump train is headed. ALL ABOARD!!!!!!!!!

I give you credit. You tried. You really tried. You are very reliable about bringing two things to this forum: cruelty, and untruthfulness. On this post, though, it seems like you actually tried to be truthful. American voters are definitely not stupid. And your general point is that all these concerns about Trump being extreme and authoritarian went nowhere. I don't recall anyone saying Trump killed his Grandma. But generally you're right that people said most of those things. Mostly people who were Trump's Chief of Staff, or Cabinet members, or generals who worked with him. Your point is: nuthin to see here. Didn't work. Move on and STFU. I mean, honest guys who have sex with children and brag about it like Matt Gaetz will tell you the truth. Nuthin to worry about here. Several Jewish friends were put off by the notion that Trump wants loyal generals like Hitler had. But they're not a pro-Genocide Jew like you are. So what do they know? Nuthin to worry about at all. But back to those smart voters. I know you don't think right wing media like Fox News and their partnership with Votecast is reliable. But here is what they say: It turns out a majority of people were concerned about the future of democracy, and Trump's specific and stated goal to lead the US in an authoritarian direction. (He said "dictator", but who takes that literally?) The interesting question is this. For people who were somewhat concerned about democracy and Trump's authoritarian ambitions, but didn't see it as the most important factor, what was more important? Not that Fox News can be trusted, but here is what they say: Count on the American voter, who is not stupid. For a lot of working class and low-income people, including many Latinos and some Blacks, the price of gas and groceries came first. Never Trump Republican Mike Murphy was right. There was a "wall of lava" coming hard at old Joe Biden. Getting him out of the way helped. Thanks, Nancy! Harris almost outran it. But being the cruel guy you are, isn't is just glorious and joyful that all those Black women who wanted a role model got Trump instead? That is surely something to celebrate! We just can never be cruel enough! Let's celebrate! The smart American voter wanted lower grocery prices, and instead got Matt Gaetz. Isn't it glorious? Isn't it fun? Every Mom wants an AG who brags about having sex with her daughter! Rejoice! On board the Trump Train! Woo hoo! Those two poll questions are from the CNN exit poll. I find them a little more suspect than Fox/Votecast, in part because the Votecast results on the same question are slightly different. But the CNN poll matches with the RCP poll averages, which turned out to be very close to the actual result. What RCP showed is that Harris climbed into a 2 point lead against Trump in late September. Her biggest jump was in the week after the debate where she decimated Trump for being the felon, rapist, and wannabe dictator he is. Several smart Republican consultants have said the strategic error Harris made is that stopped doing what worked well - attacking Trump - and shifted to selling her view of the economy. Which they argue was doomed to fail because of how people felt about high prices. What we also know is that in late October Trump closed the gap. So something shifted. And in a race where Trump will get less than 50 % of the vote, that shift was probably decisive. So this may be less about the "smart" American voter, and more about the low information first time voter. Those CNN exit polls would certainly help explain why there was a shift in the last few weeks of the election in the RCP polls. It also makes sense that attacking Trump for what he did in his first term might not have resonated for young men and women who were 12 when Trump was elected in 2016. We'll know more when the more sophisticated voter file analysis emerges. But it makes perfect sense that low information voters, many of whom were likely young and/or Latino, and who don't own stocks and homes, voted their pocketbook and gave Trump a chance. I'm sure what they were most hoping for was Matt Gaetz. An AG that had sex with children. And a moral worm of a House Speaker who now wants to cover it up. There is a good alternative theory. Which is that what Harris lacked after taking Trump down in September was a second act, in which she convinced voters she was a working class gal with a working class agenda. Whether that is true or not, I'm hoping Democrats will act like it is true. The job at hand is figuring out how to deliver a working class agenda in a working class voice in 2026 and 2028. Not that voters care about that, of course. What they are really hoping for is that Trump will be an authoritarian who trashes democracy. And, as a bonus, does a recess appointment of an AG who has sex with children. All on board the Trump Train! Ain't it glorious! Choo Choo!

,,,,,,,,,,,,,, beating the shit out of cops, right? Is that what you think they voted for? I guess I was confused. I didn't realize we were talking about the self-proclaimed @EmmetKruelty mandate. The cruelty mandate starts with two very important mandates: 1) the right to steal an election, and 2) the right to beat the shit out of cops. So in 2020, when Biden won by 81 million votes, the @EmmetK ruelty mandate demanded a Day Of Love, to beat the shit out of cops and steal an election. And patriotism! The Jubilant Patriotic Cop Beating was a day of love and great patriotism, when everybody got to draw blood from cops. That's the cruelty mandate! Everybody who understands the @EmmetKruelty mandate knows that when Trump is elected by 5 million votes less, it's a landslide. And the cruelty mandate gives you the right to do whatever the fuck cruel things we want. Top of the list: 1) deport millions of people, and especially kids. 2) Kill tens of thousands more Palestinian women and children while we try hard not to kill them. A majority of Republicans have gone back to opposing same-sex marriage. Is repealing that also part of the @EmmetKruelty campaign? Stay tuned. You can never have enough cruelty and homophobia. In terms of your left wing hit list - sex change surgeries, men in girls bathrooms - I already weighed in that I am glad a narrow loss will probably force Democrats to moderate away from some of their more extreme views. I am serious when I say that. And you are serious when you say you deeply want to see Trump leverage a narrow victory to do many extreme and cruel things. Maybe even with a side of dictatorial behavior. You express your cruelty openly. You're proud of it. Deport, deport, deport. Slaughter, slaughter, slaughter. Of course given the chance to pick on some transgender kid, there is absolutely no question what you will do. Attack the shit out of them! I mean, duh! Some innocent and vulnerable kid? Of course MAGA is going to pile on with cruelty. Why are you so cruel? It's barely been a week, and we already have a freak show starting with Gaetz, Kennedy, and Hegseth. Keep up the @EmmetKruelty. You're doing great!

Please keep posting this stuff. I can cut and paste and remind you when you are wrong, too. Although I hope your vision of a cruel and unhinged Trump 2.0 does not come to pass. People did not vote for it. And they don't want it. But if it turns out he does the things you want him to do, it will collapse quickly just like in 2017. Then we'll see how right you are about tax cuts for billionaires, mass deportations, and Trump making himself King. Enjoy your cruelty while it lasts. Please, post more. How many millions of Latinos do you want to deport? How many millions of Palestinians do you want to slaughter, while the IDF tries hard not to kill them? Maybe if you vent all your cruelty here it actually won't come to pass in reality. More @EmmetKruelty! Post away! Deport, deport, deport. Slaughter, slaughter, slaughter.

The meaning of sovereignty: Ukrainian and European views of Russia’s war on Ukraine Trump threatens to be good for Ukraine, actually Those two articles do a good job of laying out the options. It is of course incredibly complicated. That said, in many ways it is incredibly simple. Before Putin started his genocide, it's possible that the best option for real peace would have been Kissinger's idea: make Ukraine a permanently neutral country between Russia and the EU. That certainly was something Ukrainians would have agreed with before Putin invaded Crimea, based on the polls above. Maybe Obama or Trump or even Biden could have negotiated such a peace agreement between 2015 and 2021. But none of them wanted to be the POTUS who gave away Ukraine to Genocide Man. Now, the idea of Ukraine as a permanently neutral nation is dead for as long as any of us are alive. Ukrainians hate Genocide Man and want nothing todo with Genocide World. Other than to kill as many Russians as needed to defend themselves from genocide. The best Trump can hope for is a deal that gives some of Ukraine to Putin, puts the rest in NATO, and arms it to the teeth. Maybe with nukes, too. But Putin will never agree to that. The best Putin can hope for is Trump forces Ukraine to concede territory, and agree to never be part of NATO. Trump might be willing to try that, since he seems to have a weak will when it comes to Genocide Man. But I doubt he thinks he could get away with it. If anything, choosing Rubio is a clear sign that he understands that he can't just ignore the Republican defense and military establishment. Putin no doubt understands that, too. Meanwhile, as the polls in that second article outline, every leader in Europe has to deal with voters with war fatigue. They are all for supporting Ukraine. But mostly in the hopes that they can negotiate some deal. So what all of this seems to make likely is a stalemate peace. At best. If I had to bet, I'd bet on a ceasefire. It's hard to believe Ukrainians will agree to cede territory to Genocide Man. Unless Trump shoves it down their throat, which I don't think he can do. There are way too many Republicans and generals who will be all over the media about how Trump is weak, and is the selling Ukraine out to Genocide Man. And Genocide Man will never agree to Ukraine joining NATO. For now, whatever can be negotiated will allow Trump to say the fighting stopped. It will relieve European leaders of the growing war fatigue. Fewer Ukrainians will be slaughtered, and fewer Russians will need to be processed into meat. The Russian economy will be spared from sinking deeper into a hole for now. This won't be resolved until the Russian Federation collapses at some point no one guess. What we do know is that Genocide World is an economic and political mess, even compared to the Soviet Union in the years before it collapsed. So just like all those countries that used to be under the Iron Curtain and are now very committed to being in NATO, Ukraine will have to wait for as long as it takes for the Russian Federation to collapse.

I think we both viewed that as the key line in what Rubio said. Since you come here to deny genocide and rationalize away Genocide Man's mass slaughter, I am sure you wish people would perceive it as the choice between a stalemate war, and peace. In fact, it is the choice between a stalemate war, and stalemate peace. I'm not even sure what the difference is. Stalemate peace might look like what existed in Ukraine after Genocide Man invaded Crimea, but before his mass genocide of Ukrainians and mass slaughter of Russians began. Views of Ukrainians on relations with Russia: THEY HATE YOU. They really hate you. I guess I can understand why most Russians don't want to admit what the impact of Genocide Man's mass slaughter has been on how Ukrainians view you. People don't like being killed. People don't like seeing their women and children slaughtered by Genocide Man. What part of that is hard for you to grasp, Genocide Freak? Now, we both know that Trump's election is a big battle Putin won. It gives the failing Russian war economy a break, probably. Maybe fewer hundreds of thousands of Russians will have to be processed into meat by Genocide Man. But if you think Ukraine will surrender because of genocide, you might want to get in your head that they HATE you, and they HATE Genocide Man and Genocide World. Now, Trump can say this: "Go ahead Bibi. Kill them all. Kill all the women and children in Gaza. Wipe them out. Bombs away." Of course, he won't say the quiet part out loud. But my bet is that he'll be quiet as genocide in Gaza escalates. He can not say the following, even quietly: "Go ahead, Genocide Man, my good pal. Thanks for bailing my ass out, repeatedly. Kill all the women and children in Ukraine. Take them, rape them, whatever you want." Instead, he'll talk about peace. But he can't force Ukraine to accept Genocide Man, or Genocide World, after what was done to them. So now what we will see is what the terms are for something between a stalemate war and a stalemate peace. Again, congratulations. Genocide Man won an important battle. Check back with me in a few years as to whether he has won the war.

You're just wrong. Latinos are clamoring for tax cuts for billionaires. That's just a fact. Latinos are bloodthirsty. Throw all that illegal vermin in camps! The lucky ones will get out alive, maybe. It's time for some @EmmetKruelty. America wants cruelty! America wants tax cuts for billionaires! Cut Obamacare! Tariffs on everything sold at Walmart! Raise prices more! This is the agenda that America voted for. Anyone who gets in the way of King Trump is a fascist. People who oppose democracy under King Trump should think about what it is like to have guns trained on their faces. Not that anyone should shoot them, of course. I'm just saying. This is the agenda America voted for. Everyone wants King Trump and @EmmetKruelty. But if I am wrong again, and people instead held their nose and gave Trump a narrow victory - half of what Biden won by in 2020 - because they are pissed about higher prices and higher rent, check back with me later. For now, let the @EmmetKruelty and overreach begin.

Yes, and you forgot to mention the commanding 241 to 194 MAGA House majority. Clearly there was a red wave! Oh, wait. That was in 2016. Republicans in 2024 will win the barest of majorities. If the candidates leading right now win, there will be ZERO change. Some mandate. If Michelle Steel loses her 50/50 race, which she is hanging on to with a few hundred votes, Democrats may actually gain a House seat from the 2022 midterms, going from 222-213 to 221-214. Some red wave! Orange County, California was the heart and soul of landslide Reagan Republicanism in the 1980s. Now maybe a Republican can barely hold on to a House seat. But Democrats sure got shellacked at the gubernatorial level. In 2016, there were 34 Republican Guvs and 16 Democratic ones. Now there are 27 Republican Guvs and 23 Democratic ones. Again, ZERO change from before the 2024 election. Trump is holding on to a 50.1 % popular vote lead. Which will disappear most likely when several million more votes from blue states are all counted. Enjoy your illusory MAGA majority and your @EmmetKruelty while it lasts. The Democratic Guvs, who run 5 out of 7 swing states, are being cautious and smart. They're saying we will work with Trump where we can, and oppose him where we need to. If this is like 2016, he just gets less popular from here. Maybe Susie Wiles can control her pit bull. Or maybe he says and does a hurricane of dumb and cruel shit like in 2017. We'll see. We certainly know that, like Joe Biden, Trump's cognitive ability improves with age. I'm sure that won't be an issue at all. The more incoherent Trump gets, the more Latinos will yearn for him to be their dictator on day one .................. and every day! We will have the Catalyst voter analysis not too long from now. But what is apparent is that the decisive shifts happened among Latinos, young voters, and to a lesser degree Blacks. All three of those groups were a smaller part of the electorate than in 2020, which hurt Democrats. Maybe it was because in 2020 it was marginally easier to vote. But what seems most likely is some of those voters didn't want to vote for either Trump or Harris. And some of them shifted to Trump because they were pissed about higher prices and higher rent, and they wanted change. So what will Trump do? So far his @EmmetKruelty agenda looks like this: 1. Tax cuts for billionaires like Trump and Musk, and empower his billionaire donors. Just what Latinos and Blacks and young voters were hoping for. 2. Mass deportation and family separation, which a majority of voters told Fox News they DO NOT want, and which is wildly unpopular with most Latinos. 3. Possibly try to repeal Obamacare yet again, or at least reduce health care premium assistance. It's what mostly White billionaire donors of Trump want, and what will particularly hurt working class White, Latino, and Black working class families. 4. Maybe undo some of the job-creating infrastructure bipartisan gains won under Biden. Did I miss anything? Good news is with Matt Gaetz running law enforcement and a Fox News blowhard running our national defense, at least we know we are in good hands.

I think you just nailed it. I will give you one piece of pushback. Neither you nor I have a crystal ball. So we have a view of Trump that is based pretty much on 1000 % of what he actually said and and did as POTUS. That said, we can not foresee the future. So we have to let it play out. But what you are saying does match very well with 1000 % of what Trump says and does. Around this time in 2016, there were a lot of thoughtful articles from Democrats worrying that Trump was a secret moderate. We know he was a Democrat for much of his life. So the fear of Democrats in 2016 was that maybe he will go right down the center. And create a centrist majority. Maybe he'll be for infrastructure. Maybe he'll embrace Joe Manchin, and disavow the right wing culture extremists. Democrats were actually worried about this right after he won in 2016. His inaugural address pretty much ended those worries. So he embraced tax cuts for billionaires like himself, trashing Obamacare, and gutting some of his working class supporters. Because it is what his donors and right wing extremists wanted. And it makes sense. Trump is a political whore, with absolutely no principles. So of course he was going to go with the MAGA extremes and Elon Musk billionaires that brought him to power. If you run as a wrecking ball, and are elected as a wrecking ball, you have to actually be a wrecking ball. Trump is like a feral animal, only into ME ME ME. So he does get it. And he is willing to absolutely fuck over anyone, or any NATO, he needs to. So he will probably be a wrecking ball to NATO. But NATO, like the majority of Americans, will resist and survive if this is the Trump that actually shows up for Trump 2.0. But, again, we don't have a crystal ball. I really hope we are wrong. America, Ukraine, democracy, and the world deserve better. The interesting thing that is already playing out is this. If our worst fears about Trump come to pass, it won't be transgender prisoners that are complaining. It will be John Bolton, Liz Cheney, and right of center generals. Can't say they didn't warn us.

It's funny. In 2010 Rubio represented the Tea Party "fringe". Those were the days. Now Rubio seems like the adult in the room, compared to some of the others. What's been clear for a long time is that it is either a stalemate war, or a stalemate peace. Ultimately Ukraine will decide. I'm not holding my breath for this to be resolved in 24 hours, though. It will be interesting to see. Rubio has been a consistently strong supporter of NATO. Which I am sure Trump was aware of when he picked him.

Do I get free bleach if I board early?

That poll also says 44 % of voters think Trump will do a better job than Harris on immigration. That sounds about right. But for inflation and a reaction against immigration, Harris would have won. Trump doesn't have a majority or mandate for ................... anything. Lots of people voted for him because they are pissed, and he was the only bad alternative. Right now Trump has 50.1 % of the national vote. He is losing in my state, California, by about 3 million votes. With 10 % left to count. My guess is he'll end up with less than 50 % of the vote, but pretend he was elected King. Or dictator. The stunning red wave gained Republicans 63 US House seats. Oh, wait. That was 2010. The stunning red wave gained Republicans ZERO net House seats as of now. What is this a mandate for? There is definitely a majority of voters against Gay pedophiles for genocide. Are you a Gay pedophile for genocide? 😨 Seriously, have you ever had sex with a child? Do we need to add a dash of pedophilia to your genocidal fantasies? My point is it's in the genes of reactionary Republicans to stir up fear and loathing among conservatives about The Gays or The Illegals. Or The Terrorist Palestinian Women and Children Who We Try Hard Not To Kill Before We Kill Them. Why do you like genocidal lies? So on immigration we did see several red states overwhelmingly pass laws saying The Illegals can not vote. Which is about as big a proven problem as The Gays wantonly raping every boy they get near. It's fear and loathing. I mean, sure. I'd vote for a law saying you can't do things that are illegal. I'd vote for a law saying Matt Gaetz can't have sex with children, which is already against the law. But that is the MAGA movement you love, with anticipation for all the cruelty you can get. More, more, more! Fear and loathing. Why are you so cruel? In terms of immigration, let's wait and see. I mean, you are definitely right that that news station that is all blowhard propaganda and lies is spreading fake news. What's the name of that station? Oh, yeah. Fox News. I mean, there is definitely a strong @EmmetKruelty faction in MAGA that wants as much Kruelty as it can get. You are one of them. I am sure you would delight at children in cages, deporting legally American children, and all other such joyous MAGA things. Why are you so cruel? Can we add some cop beating to the festivities? Maybe try to avoid killing 10,000 more Palestinian children by killing them? The same Fox News poll says a majority of Americans want to make it harder to get asylum. Which is one of the items the conservative immigration reform bill Trump trashed included. So much for good governance. I'm just surprised Trump didn't choose MTG to run our immigration policy. If we could only clone Matt Gatez, he could run everything. He'd be great on sex trafficking. Homan is media savvy and actually sounds good, out of the gate. Equally savvy Governors like Newsom, who runs the fifth largest economy in the world that Trump lost by 3 million or so votes, will say, "Sure. Let's round up the rapists and murderers! Glad to be of assistance." Then again, when Homan talks about "saving" 300,000 children who are "missing" (the paperwork is missing, not the children) what people will learn quickly is that he wants to take kids away from their families and kick them out. We'll see how that goes. You are the perfect spokesperson for the heart of MAGA. You can't get enough cruelty. You will over reach. Trump is already showing he will do that. That's the huge mystery of this election. 52 % of Americans never approved of Trump when he was POTUS. Maybe it's young men who watch Tik Tok and have no clue what Trump actually did as POTUS. But now he is going to remind people of why they fired him, it seems. Or maybe not. Certainly appointing Fox News celebrities to run our national defense and Matt Gaetz to DOJ is a good sign, showing Trump favors competence absolute unquestioning loyalty to absolute unquestioning loyalty competence. Time will tell.

Republicans have reverted to being anti-same sex marriage. The polls showed that around 2021 we finally had a tiny Republican majority in favor of it. Now it has slipped back, to less than a majority among Republicans. Because the door is seemingly open for trashing The Gays and "extreme" things like The Gays wanting to marry. And please .........don't say Gay. Never say Gay. We might be fortunate enough to now have a national Don't Say Gay bill. The Gays earned it, with their extreme behavior. Republicans Turn Against Same-Sex Marriage Today on TAP: Their panic about the evils of woke turns their previous semi-support for same-sex relationships into flat-out rejection. Of course, Republicans would never try to make same sex marriage or abortion illegal. Never!

I'm really disappointed in Gaetz for AG. I mean, come on. There are plenty of convicted sex felons out there. It's weak to choose some one who is simply under investigation for illicit sex. We could have at least had a real felon, to double down on that whole macho felon POTUS theme. Nobody cares about crime anymore, as long as Trump or his cronies do it. Especially sex crimes. So WTF? Why not a true criminal?

Do you deny the Holocaust, too? 😨 You just lie and defend genocide. You and @Moses make such a delicious pair. Death, death, death. Slaughter, slaughter, slaughter. How about this? It is an act of love for Bibi The Baby Killer to slaughter innocent Palestinian women and children terrorists. Bibi The Baby Killer loves Palestinian children by slaughtering them. Mass slaughter is an act of love. Focus group that and test if that rationalization for genocide works. Why are you so cruel?

That's like saying Trump is not a felon. And January 6th was a day of love. Every time the IDF kills women and children, they say something very predictable. "We try very hard not to kill the women and children we just killed. When we kill more women and children soon, we will try very hard not to kill them." Somehow, Bibi The Baby Killer has managed to kill at least 40,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children. I guess he could have killed 400,000 Palestinian women and children, but he tried hard not to. Now, if Trump unleashes Bibi The Baby Killer, the real genocide begins. How many Palestinian women and children do you want killed, @EmmetK? Hundreds of thousands of dead women and children? Millions? @Moses is right. Bibi The Baby Killer, unleashed, will definitely give Genocide Man a run for his mass slaughter. Will all the Muslim nations around Israel say, "Hey, let's celebrate genocide against Muslims."? Nope. They will continue to get closer to Iran. Because for some strange reason the Muslim street doesn't like Muslim genocide. This is a strategy for war, not peace. Who knew?