stevenkesslar

Or not. I've know he's had brain insufficiency forever. I'm fine limiting it to venous insufficiency. Same goes for penile insufficiency, by the way. No need for the details on that. Melania's face says it all.

I have to admit, Sis. I am a bit jealous of you. And not for the first time. You have always been more compassionate than me. But I have always aspired to the the smart girl. Maybe even a little bit of that whole liberal condescending thing the MAGA folk love to hate. Just a touch, mind you. And yet here you go again: both compassionate, and innovative. In a genuinely sincere and heartfelt way. I guess I will never be as smart and kind as you. But I can look up to you, proudly. Besides, if there are two of them, they can protect each other from Trump turning them into Trump steaks.

Wow. When I saw a video that actually has facts and is kind of thoughtful, I thought maybe our old dog is really learning new tricks. But once I watched the video, it's just another reflexive bark from our STUPID STUPID DOG. But I am glad to see Tik Tok at least allows a mostly factual video to be posted. If we want to talk about Democrats and power, we should talk about housing. High housing costs, high mortgage rates, and high rent all helped Trump win in 2024. Especially among Zoomer men that are feeling the brunt of it. That said, our stupid barking dog is hopeless. DO NOT LET TRUMP TURN YOU INTO TRUMP STEAKS. I like our barking dog. I don't want Trump to turn him into food for hungry Trump voters. But, sadly, his brain is Trump steaks already. He can not think. He is a stupid dumb Pavlov's dog barking reflexively. From green icon to housing villain: The fall of California’s landmark environmental law Our stupid dumb dog can not read. So of course he is not up to date on the news. He is conditioned to watch some video and bark. DO NOT LET TRUMP TURN YOU INTO TRUMP STEAKS, OKAY? Newsom got the memo from the 2024 elections. As that article documents, what he has done this year is a needed political earthquake in California. Critics who want to defend NIMBY laws that making it harder to build homes correctly say that scaling back the California Environmental Quality Act is just one small barrier. And that the law still has good intentions, as it did when Reagan signed it. True. But it is now one less barrier to affordable housing. Newsom thinks Democrats should knock down more barriers. I agree Only a BRAIN DEAD BARKING DOG would bark like crazy at the stupid arguments in that video. DO NOT LET TRUMP TURN YOU INTO TRUMP STEAKS. The argument our dumb dog barks at is that hypocritical liberals fought to keep one block in Palo Alto, CA from being turned into "affordable housing." News flash! As the video says, homes in Palo Alto - one of the richest cities in the world - cost like $5 million. How is THAT affordable to anyone? The STUPID STUPID DOG posted a video that says, correctly, that California communities are adding way more good paying jobs than affordable housing. So if California has all these high paying jobs, tell me why it sucks so bad? Or why Californians are lazy? You poor STUPID STUPID DOG. DO NOT LET TRUMP TURN YOU INTO TRUMP STEAKS. And Trump just gave tax cuts to all the richest Americans, who live in places like Palo Alto. How does that make things more affordable? How does cutting Medicaid for working class families, some of whom own homes, help them pay their mortgage or rent? YOU STUPID STUPID BARKING DOG. Didn't your mother teach you anything? DO NOT LET TRUMP TURN YOU INTO TRUMP STEAKS. Could a Trump voting Mormon family or a liberal Black working class family in Utah or Sacramento afford a $300,000 home, as opposed to a $5 million home in Palo Alto? Yes. I know they can. I sold the home in Utah to a guy who was my tenant for 20 years last year. He and his wife love owning a home. I am working right now with the Black family in Sacramento, who have been my tenants for over a decade. They all want to own homes. They do not want to rent. Here is a news flash to our STUPID STUPID BARKING DOG. DO NOT LET TRUMP TURN YOU INTO TRUMP STEAKS. In America, owning a home is the American dream. Owning a home is the single best way to slowly build wealth. People who want to own a single-family home are smart, you STUPID STUPID DOG. The problem is not that people like single-family homes. Or that they like the good paying jobs they can get in California. The problem is that progressive government should be working hard to knock down barriers to help working class people either own if they can or rent if they must - affordably. And sorry. Palo Alto will never be an affordable place for working class people. Why focus on that, other than to get the STUPID STUPID DOG to bark reflexively? That is not to say that renting or owning a condo in a big complex is bad. But most families I have rented to in working class neighborhoods are working class people with kids who like having a back yard. If they can afford it. It is as American as apple pie. What the fuck is Trump doing to make homes affordable for these people? Tax breaks to Elon Musk? Cutting their Medicaid? Taking food off their table? You STUPID STUPID BARKING DOG. DO NOT LET TRUMP TURN YOU INTO TRUMP STEAKS. Here's your treat. Now be good! And sorry if I insulted you. I guess you can't help the fact that you are stupid.

Silly. I will always lover my OLDER sister. Again, I will go for "Unpredictable for $500." David Axelrod said he did not see Trump coming in 2016, and he felt dumb afterward. He advised Obama to be the opposite of W. in 2008. So, in hindsight, Axelrod said it made sense that after eight years America might want the opposite of Obama. Other than being old, calm Joe was kind of the opposite of Trump in 2020. So as much as a lot of people think we need our own Trump in 2028, I'm not sure. Mostly, I think it is unpredictable. But this much is predictable. You will always be my Beloved Sister in Cock.

Be careful what you ask for, sweetie. Do you really want to be the next Beau Breedlove? And yes. It does sound like some name out of a Gay porn movie. But truth actually is stranger than fiction. Beau Breedlove tells of his romance as a 17-year-old with Sam Adams Adams was Portland's first Gay mayor. I think at the time Portland was the largest city to elect a Gay mayor. Sam left office kind of disgraced, because of the above. He tried to make a political comeback in 2020, and lost a City Council race. He tried again in 2024, and lost a race for a seat on the County Commission. It gets sadder. His partner, Peter Zuckerman, led the campaign to decriminalize drugs in Oregon. It won in 2020, the heyday of woke, by 59 % of the vote. After it passed, fentanyl use exploded. All kinds of promises were made about how progressive government would spend money on effective drug treatment to get to the root of the problem. Even defenders of the law agreed that did not happen as planned. The law was repealed in 2024. Measure 110 rollback passes House: Oregonians ‘ready for this misguided experiment to be over’ If I had to name one woke phrase that hurt Democrats badly, it would be "Defund The Police." But this would be a close second. It contributed to the narrative that progressives can't govern. They are all talk and no action. Except to kiss Beau Breedlove, maybe. Sam has nice nipples, though. 🙄 I saw him partly naked a few times, since we went to the same gym and he would hang out in the sauna. And I did have a professional liaison with him, of sorts. Before he was elected Mayor, he was the former Mayor's Chief of Staff while I ran a campaign to impose a progressive tax to fund schools on the largest corporations in Portland. That won, and was wildly popular. This shit is not rocket science. The woman who was the County chair at the time actually was a former socialist recruited to run for office by a friend of mine. She told me as much as she liked the idea of a progressive tax on big business, she could not support it because they would run her out of office. We did it, anyways. She supported it, anyways. We won. Corporate Portland hated it and did target her. She won re-election handily because she fought for something. So it pisses me off when these people will not stand and fight. Because my own personal experience is that when Democrats stood and fought, we won.

Granted, I am OLD. As you so kindly noted in another post, my Beloved Sister In Cock. 😍 True story. Once, when I was young, someone teased me by putting this Chinese fortune on my work mailbox: "In youth ans beauty, wisdom is rare." I'm hoping I at least can count on the wisdom part now. True! This is the part of it that makes sense to me. Both for deeply principled progressives, and for loose cannons like Theo Von. I do believe in the "someone in the crowd" theory of politics. Who would have guessed Clinton in 1992, or Obama in 2008, or Trump in 2016 and then again in 2024? Politics is weird. Leaders emerge. That said, the problem with my theory is that it's more complicated than Emma Stone looking pretty. They have to fight like hell to win and lead. Clinton, Obama, and Trump all know that very well. Khanna is one of those guys fighting like hell. So when I think of who could emerge in 2028, he is one of the people on my short list. That said, the whole point is I don't think we know. Mamdani himself is proof that lightning sometimes just has to strike. The problem with Khanna is that he is a California liberal. Didn't we just have one of that ilk lose? I also think he is the kind of wonky candidate, like Elizabeth Warren, who wonks like me love. They contribute to the debate. But they never win the grand prize. Working class people like people who sound working class. Hence Ruben Gallego, who says what every Mexican American man wants is a big ass truck and cheap gas to fill it with. That's the ticket! That said, who knows? What is interesting is that Khanna comes from one of the richest and most ethnically diverse House districts in America. You can stop there and say, THAT is the future America I want. Rich, forward looking, interesting, a global collection of winners who work hard and win. And he'll look rich people in Silicon Valley in the face and say put your money where your mouth is. You should pay more taxes. While Hakeem just goes and kisses their asses.

Hate to break the bad news, Sis. But I wouldn't get your hopes up. He might let you suck on a nipple, at least. Something is better than nothing.

It's so funny that you of all people want to live in 1945. I know Russia is behind the times. But, really? Can't we try to live in the 21st Century? These days, there is one bad ass who keeps threatening to nuke a neighbor. And that is your genocidal monster, Putin. You might want to update him on your feelings about nukes. Then again, he might kill you. Be careful. By coincidence, there was just this long article in Politico about an oral history of the first testing of a nuke in July 1945. It is an interesting read. Here is the line that stood out the most to me: My Dad, who was on a ship in the Pacific in WWII, felt that way. The damn thing worked. It meant he didn't have to be slaughtered in a land invasion of Japan. Being slaughtered in a land invasion. Let's see. Is there anything like that happening in the world today? Surely you can relate. Putin has to pay the families of the poor and ethnic minorities and Russian criminals to go be slaughtered in Ukraine. What gives you standing to talk about anything? Remember that Japan provoked the US, just like Putin provoked Ukraine and the West. You can say whatever you want about NATO and Gorbachev and promises made. But Putin invaded Ukraine and started a genocide. Even Putin's favorite fool, Donald Trump, seems to have now accepted that fact. So he is incompetently trying to lure Putin into some deal that Putin clearly won't make. Putin definitely has won a big battle with Trump's victory. So congratulations to you. And enjoy it while it lasts. But I still think Russia is fucked. You now have a shitty economy with inflation and debt that depends on a war you can't win. One reason Putin wants to keep the war going is his economy now depends on it. And most of the rest of the world hates you. Good luck with that. As much as I despise him, I do kind of feel sorry for Trump. We have two actively genocidal assholes in the world today. Putin, and Netanyahu. And a fool named Trump who thinks he can win a Nobel by making peace with both. Meanwhile, the genocides continue. The US and Israel is paying for one, and Putin is paying for another. So it is just bad news. And not a good time for people who actually want peace. Too bad for the rest of the world.

Mamdani finally meets Jeffries — and comes up short Their ‘constructive, candid and community-centered’ conversation did not result in an endorsement for mayor. Hakeem Jeffries is a loser. He should resign. He is not change. He is blocking change. On his first round as House Speaker, he lost. So he is, by definition, a loser. Losers lose, and Hakeem lost. So what the fuck does he know? Resign, loser. You are behind the curve and we don't need you. Take your big money donors and go away. Nancy Pelosi is many things. I will name three. Back in the day, she was a hero to the Gay community on AIDS. She is a famed fundraiser who has gotten endless numbers of Democrats elected. And she was arguably the best House Speaker ever. Democrats can thank her as much as Obama for Obamacare and a whole bunch of other stuff. But her time has passed. And Hakeem is basically a weaker version of her, with a Black face rather than a skirt. And so far, all he is is a loser. Everything I read about Hakeem is he wants to go kiss ass and make up with Silicon Valley donors and big money. He is the face of a party that does not know what they stand for. Other than to convince people like me to give them money to stand for nothing and fight for nothing. And lose. Go away, Hakeem. YOU ARE A LOSER. Do you get the message, loser? I'm not a huge fan of Mamdani. But I think I understand what he stands for. And the Democratic Party needs it if we want to have any hope of winning. Millennials in particular - the same people that stood for Obama, and were the energy behind Bernie - want real change. And if it sounds good enough and real enough, a lot of the Zoomer men who voted for Trump and aren't thrilled with what they got may vote Democratic. We tried a version of this in Chicago. And so far no one thinks Mayor Johnson is a success. His poll ratings are dismal. If Mamdani wins we get another try in New York, around a clear and riveting populist agenda. There is a whole crew of seasoned progressives from the DeBlasio days that have actual experience running things that can and probably will step in if Mandani wins. I'm not convinced it will work. But it is a big piece of what my party needs if it wants to have a future. So I hope he wins, and I hope he governs well. The fact that Hakeem won't get behind this sends me a clear message. I won't give a penny to Hakeem or his party. I donate to lots of Democrats, and I will keep doing it. But I hope Hakeem himself fails and quits. He is a loser who loses, and stands for nothing. Go away, Hakeem. We don't need you. Loser! Bill Clinton is not a loser. Nor would I call him a progressive. But he is a great politician who can read the room better than most. So he got right behind Mamdani. One of his old hack political advisers, Doug Sosnik, is one of the guys I like to listen to. He is not a progressive, either. But he is saying the same thing. The economic populism Bernie fought hard for in 2016 and 2020, which was anchored in Millennials, has to be a big part of the mix if Democrats actually want to win and deliver change. I think Clinton and Sosnik are winners who win. Because they know what effective politics is. Jeffries is pissing on his own future. He is weak, and stands for nothing. Nancy Pelosi was always going to be a hard act to follow. But this guy is a loser. He should go away.

Grandma is the reason we should nuke Master Xi if he invades Taiwan. Then again, we should have nuked Moscow when Putin started his genocide. Instead, Trump is letting Putin manipulate the hell out of him. I say let's nuke Master Xi and his pit bull, Putin. After all, as you keep saying, the US loves to nuke people every century or so. 😉 Putin, he's just a garden variety genocide type of guy. 😨 Gotta admit, though. We are giving Putin a run for his money and blood in Gaza. Although in fairness the US is just footing the bill for the Genocide Jew. And we're not killing our own people, like Putin is.

Always love it when you laugh, Sis. MAGA-friendly "manosphere" turns heat on Trump over Epstein scandal Some smart Republican politico predicted a few years back that a tidal wave was coming for the Republican Party. And Republicans had no idea how to stop it. The tidal wave was "youth". Well, they not only stopped it in 2024. They turned it to their advantage. Particularly with young Zoomer men. Again, I think most of that was luck. COVID. Lockdowns. Inflation. Rent. Now Democrats are the ones who feel awash.

Again, hate to be a broken record. AMLO won in a sorta landslide in 2018 because he had a vision that people were attracted to. But also Nieto proved that corporate mainstream governance, Mexico's trickle down, was not working. Sheinbaum won in a true landslide in 2024 because MORENA actually delivered results. Despite the same inflation as in the US. The three-way battle for the Democratic Party As much as something this complex and unpredictable can be summarized in one essay, that article does a really good job. And the question is not which of the three wings are correct. They all are. The question is whether they can form a coalition. And then, if elected, whether they can deliver. I don't blame people who feel Biden did not deliver. You can blame it on all sorts of things, starting with global inflation. But it still is what it is. This is the job of a leader. Someone running for President is going to have to pull it together. So as the article says Democrats will have to grumble until 2028. But hopefully by then a lot of people will be hungry to unify and win. Trump had to do the same thing. Build a coalition. And he barely succeeded, twice. The two obvious wings of the GOP are the old Chamber of Commerce wing, which is alive and well and loving its tax cuts and special interest laws. And the working class/trucker driver/MAGA wing. I would not call low-income people a part of the GOP coalition. But Trump did win the votes of people who make under $50,000 in 2024. Which is a huge indictment of Democratic failures. And an explanation for Mamdani. So if there is a third wing of the GOP coalition it is the "high prices" wing. Which already doesn't like what Trump is doing. Electric bills are up 9 % YTD. Just wait till the Medicaid and food debate gets going. I love this abundance thing. It focuses directly on stuff people want. Abundant housing. Abundant energy. Abundant child care. Better that than abundant democracy, I think. Both Ezra Klein lefties and Mandani progressives want the same thing. Abundant stuff. Affordable stuff. It presents Democrats with at least two huge challenges. The rich and corporations will have to pay. Which is something Biden could not deliver. And Democrats will have to govern well. In Chicago the mayor's approval ratings got as low as a single digit in one poll. Meaning a lot of the Black base that elected him are not happy with how he is doing. The best thing that could happen is Mamdani wins and proves progressives can govern. Which is, again, exactly what AMLO did in Mexico City. And then the nation! I'm not suggesting Mandani should run for President, even if he wins and is wildly successful. I think Bernie proved that his brand of democratic socialism is simply a bridge too far. Including for the working class. We have a long time to figure this out. There are a few threads emerging that excite me. Just get old fucks out of the way. Millennials are being awful polite not to say it that bluntly. And I adore Nancy Pelosi. I even think Chuck Schumer is underestimated as a clever political survivor. But they excite no one these days. And Trump is the same worthless old disgusting piece of shit he has always been. Just older. So some burst of youthful energy will happen. We're seeing the previews right now in NYC. And the other thing is this: JUST BUILD SHIT. Just shut the fuck up and build shit. Build affordable shit. Just shut the fuck up. Really. Environmental blah blah blah just shut the fuck up and build shit. I mean, it really is easier to build homes than bombers, or AI, or nuclear power plants, or a new electric grid. It is not rocket science. So just shut the fuck and build shit. Affordable shit. That is what Zoomers want. And Trump, the faux real estate POTUS, ain't gonna do shit about it.

It sure ain't trust. It's more like I recognize greed when I see it. Paramount wants its merger approved. So in that sense Trump won. All the king's men have to kowtow to him. What's new? The bizarre part of this to me is that it is somehow news that Theo Von is calling out Vance, as outlined below, because Vance gaslighted the public about Epstein on Von's show. As in, who could possibly give a shit? Zoomers, I guess. I think it was a big mistake for Team Harris to ignore the slightly racist maybe recovering drug addicty Rogan/Von manosphere. But the good news is there is no evidence that the love affair between Trump and the bros is permanent. This headline says it all. Theo Von Government Isn't For the People ...Look at Epstein & Gaza!!! I'm with him. Epstein, US-funded genocide in Gaza, Trump building a surveillance state with Palantir. What's not to like about that .............. other than everything? It is clear that four years of Biden, lockdowns, toxic masculinity, and unaffordable rent had an impact on young men who facilitated Trump's comeback. It is way too early to tell what impact four years or Trump will have on the same group. But the handwriting on the wall ain't looking so good for MAGA.

I'd say Tik Tok took Colbert down. It's a shame. Old school linear TV is being replaced by junk on Tik Tok. But that's what the kids want, honey! Partisanship no doubt plays into it, too. But I buy that it was mostly, if not purely, a financial decision.

Do you think Trump understands the word PEDOPHILE? Or RAPE? Or INSURRECTION? The poor little pedophile buddy buddy. Oh how awful. President Pussy Grabber Pedophile Buddy is being attacked again! My heart bleeds for the worthless disgraceful piece of shit that is a shame on America. Oh the poor pedophile buddy buddy! Oh poor President Pedophile. Oh how my heart bleeds! I'm no lawyer. And trying to get in Trump's toxic raping lying brain in suicidal. But when I read that quote my assumption is that Trump is correct. This is a guy who is a disgusting worm who graduated from Roy Cohn U and has spent his life learning how to use the law to cover up for his crimes and rape and general disgusting existence. He probably had someone do the birthday card for him, is my guess. Maybe the signature is his or maybe not. Kudos to the WSJ to tell this worthless disgusting worm of a man that he can take all his bullshit and ingest it and choke on it. What a toxic horrible human being. Every fucking day the media should expose what a subhuman toxic lying worthless piece of shit Donald Trump is. Just like JD the ass kissing loser wants. It is probably cheaper for them to pay the moral worm money when he sicks his Roy Cohn lawyers on them, but refuse to apologize. America is getting the memo. Donald Trump is a disgusting piece of shit. He will forever be a stain on the USA. He is the absolute rock bottom worst of America.

Of course, when the WSJ did exactly that .............................. here we are. Shouldn't JD be ashamed of himself? What purpose does JD even serve? (Trick question. We all know the answer.)

This is a sad example: Talking ‘Trump accounts’ and mocking Democrats, Vance offers preview of how GOP will message the 'big, beautiful bill' Vance is correct, as far as it goes. He didn't talk about the tax breaks to billionaire donors. Or the special interest laws for special interest lobbies in red states, of course. They put enough populist stuff in the bill, like cash for working class babies and no tax on tips, that they can claim it is virtually the same as FDR's New Deal! Have to add that Vance is learning quickly from Trump when it comes to bald-faced lies. He railed against not wanting to pass on "this giant debt volume" to his grandkids. Except for the $3.4 trillion it adds to the deficit to help the needy rich, of course. Meanwhile, Democrats could not agree to tax the rich one fucking penny more to fund an expanded child tax credit that helped tens of millions of working class families and cut child poverty in half for one year. Harris had a great line about her Mom and the kitchen table. But she could not tell stories about how she drew blood from billionaires like Trump - or Kyrsten Sinema - to make sure all those kids were not thrown right back into poverty. I read she was advised not to rattle the chains of populism because some of the rich Democratic donors might get upset. Can't have that!

European envoy warns Trump administration actions are hurting efforts to help abducted Ukrainian children Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, the Russian military has forcibly transported about 20,000 Ukrainian children into Russian territory. Are these woke assholes every going to get the memo? They are Europeans, who basically have been living off the good will of the USA for decades. So I guess not! These kids no doubt chose to move to Russia for their own good. Who would want to live in a shit hole like Ukraine that starts wars for no good reason? This is just as bad as all the whining even from Republicans about all those DEI kids in Africa who need pills for so-called "AIDS" or whatever! The able-bodied here in the US need to go out and work for their Medicaid and food. Why should we be giving pills and shit to DEI kids in Africa? America First! THIS IS OUR GOLDEN AGE!!!!!!!!!!!

We may disagree about this. One question I have had is whether we were headed to a world in which Putin and Trump were BFFs. I think the verdict is in. No, we are not. That may be what Trump wants, and where he thought the train was headed. But Putin doesn't see Trump that way. As you just said, Trump has always been his useful idiot. I think that is now clear. Poor Donald won't get the Nobel Peace Prize for his "Peace in 24 Hours" deal with Putin and Ukraine. So sad! That said, Trump does have a true BFF in Bibi, and a bunch of Middle East autocrats. And the genocide is on! Is there a Nobel Peace Prize for that?

This is not exactly a news flash. But Trump does live in some alternative form of reality. There was a funny piece on The Daily Show this week by Jordan Klepper, who has spent years mining the MAGAverse for humor. It was about how Trump went into one of his weaves about his brilliant uncle who taught at MIT, and died decades ago. And how he and his uncle once had a talk about how his uncle taught the Unabomber. Did Trump’s uncle teach the Unabomber? No. Here’s what really happened Again, it is not news that Trump has a tortured relationship with facts and reality. But this helps explain how Zelenskyy was a dictator, until he wasn't. And Putin was kind of the victim, until he wasn't. Probably the key ingredient is that Trump is a genius, he thinks. Which is actually close to being a madman, he thinks. Which may be true, at least in his case. Then he makes up his own alternative reality of facts. But those alternative facts keep changing to whatever he wants them to be. I mean, it's not like Joe Biden was a genius in his prime as POTUS. Klepper put a photo up of both Trump and Biden and everybody laughed. But this is deeply fucked up. Then again, what's new? 🤪

Honestly, I don't get it. And while I know people I can get a read from about what drives MAGA, I really don't think I know anyone deep enough in the insane asylum to explain this to me. You're right that there are so called "leaders" or influencers who used this to gain power or make money. But the part I don't get is why do the people inside the insane asylum believe it, and dwell on it? And of course the easiest answer is, "Duh! Because they're insane." The other overwhelming feeling I have had for a long time is that most people who are Millennials or Zoomers are cynical. And that's not quite fair of me to say. Because the Millennials that worked their asses off for Mamdani are anything but cynics. But my point is that I think that may be one of the drivers here. Cynicism. The people in the insane asylum genuinely see Trump as the anti-hero and bad ass who will go in and own the libs and open the coffins and root out the vampires in the Deep State. So now he is the Deep State. Or at least Pam Bondi is. They are now the government that covers shit up and gaslights everyone. Except this group is probably less Zoomers than older Gen X types. Like I said, I know none of them personally. The phrase I keep thinking is those who live by the sword die by the sword. This is more like those who live by gaslighting die by gaslighting. There is good news in this. If MAGA eats Trump, he can't turn our barking dog into Trump Steaks. One less cruel thing will happen. But the sad part for me is Putin has to be in stitches over this. As in, THIS is democracy? What a fucked up mess!

Exactly. There are the midterms. I view Nancy Pelosi as one of the best politicians of my lifetime. I think she saw the handwriting on the wall, and worked mightily to prevent it. She got Joe Biden out of the way. Had she not, I think there would have been more losses in the House and Senate. We actually gained one House seat. Had we gained a few more, a lot of this could have been prevented. But it was not to be. If Democrats can take back the House, it stops some of the bad shit Trump can do. But as @lookin says, they will still do as much through the executive branch and Trump's handpicked SCOTUS as they can.

No shit! And I agree that I don't know they have it in them. I know I may sound like I am all AMLO, all the time. But implicit in what I am saying is that shit has to change in a really big way. Like AMLO literally created a new political party. Which now basically has a lock on power that the global elites worry is .............. wait for it .................... too authoritarian. But the Mexican working class sure love it. Part of my optimism, which my Dad and siblings share but not most of my nieces and nephews don't, is that leaders can actually make a difference. There was of course Obama and "hope and change." And now Mandani is a local version of the same thing. Trump is a version of the same thing for Republicans. Generally, they love him. Their problem is Republicans account for nowhere near 50 % of the vote. Nor do Democrats, for that matter. My larger point is that Republicans were kind of fucked until Trump came along. McCain lost. Romney lost. So it makes sense that they can't live without him, so they live with him. Did it really have to be this way? That's for historians to fight over. For now we just have to live through it. Assuming we can, and do. I think it is the same with Democrats. Some leader has to come along to change the party. Clinton did that, for both better and worse, in 1992. I'm not sure I would say the same with Obama. In 2000, the Democratic President was from Arkansas and the Senate Democratic Leader was from South Dakota. That could not happen today. The Democratic Congressional leaders are from places like New York and San Francisco. Obama rose to power in Chicago. That kind of sums up the problem, I think. Clinton's party still appealed to the working class. Including in states that we now think of as ruby red. Ruy Teixeira's big thing is the working class. He and John Judis, who know the area well because they forecast it a generation ago with The Emerging Democratic Majority, view the problem at core as being that Democrats lost touch with the working class. So the 30,000 foot level solution is to elevate leaders who will fight for the working class. It is working in Mexico. The thing that scares me the most is the rise of billionaires and autocrats. And that is where both parties are just as much to blame. Working class people got a few crumbs with "no tax for tips". But basically Trump's party is breaking the budget to give billionaires whatever the hell they want. When Democrats had power they could not agree to raise taxes on these people one penny, even though the idea is wildly popular, to fund things that help the working class. That is in part because lots of Democrats either are very rich, or they are afraid of pissing off their rich donors. Who they constantly suck at the tit of. And every attempt to make Democrats not dependent on sucking the tits of the rich has failed. So I get why all my nieces and nephews are cynical. Or, they are the rich ones who like Trump and his tax cuts. What is certain is that by empowering the autocrats and cutting their taxes and fucking the working class and poor on health care cuts and basic things like food, Republicans are NOT giving Americans the change they want. But whether Democrats will ever be able to do it is a very good question. A lot of young people feel that when the Democrats rejected Bernie, that was game over. The rich now control both parties. I don't blame them for feeling that way.

As you note, it is the unitary executive theory. Not the unitary government theory. That said, my Sister In Cock is right that it is a de facto unitary government now. For the most part, the legislative branch and SCOTUS are willing to go along with whatever Trump wants. The caveat is that right now the House and Senate are Republican run. Check back with me in 2027. So the biggest check right now is constant articles about some judge somewhere who actually puts some limit on Trump. At least until SCOTUS says, "Oh, no. Do whatever you want." And it's worse than you think. John Mearsheimer is one example of a smart person saying on foreign policy Trump can do anything he wants. He is systematically destroying alliances that took a century or more to build. On Ukraine at least he is surrounded by Republicans who mostly despise Putin and want to sanction him. So that part of the GOP is still breathing. Then there is the GENOCIDE JEW!!!!!!!! show. The United States and Israel are increasingly associated with genocide. As in, "Want food? Okay. But let me kill you instead." It's happening every day. Mearsheimer argued Trump can pretty much do anything he wants. Bombs away, if Bibi and Trump agree. Which they seem to. And, yes, I know. That's Israeli Jews, not American Jews. Then we get into the Israel Lobby in the US, which Mearsheimer wrote a book about and is all too happy to talk about. So right now there is only one proudly Jewish nation in the world, and it is having a genocide spree. And the US is paying for much of it. Oh, and did I mention Trump has his finger on the nuclear button? The solace in this is that the reaction is clearly growing, just like it did in 2017 and 2018. Can Trump cancel the midterms? Hope not. The polls show even Republicans say they don't want Trump to be King. Mostly they feel democracy is alive and well, though. Trump won fair and square, and they like what he's doing. Although even with that there are more and more Republicans saying they DO NOT like tariffs, or his cruel immigration policy. My conservative Romney-ite nephew who basically supports Trump's policies is a really good read for me on this. A month or so ago I said I'm not even sure if people care about democracy anymore. I don't believe that, but I was curious what he would say. "I think they care about democracy. They just want change." he replied. I agree with him. That is what Trump acolytes said loud and clear, and correctly, in that Frontline video. So the question on the table now is, "is this the change you wanted?" The verdict is out. I will say this about the unitary executive theory and executive orders. Bipartisanship and "meeting in the middle", which I know is what my conservative nephew and I deeply agree on and favor, has been dying for a long time. Obama increasingly used executive orders because it was the only way he could get shit done. As that video shows, Trump took out a lot of Biden's executive orders on Day One. So Trump is taking out all the guard rails, for sure. But he is symptom, not cause. What happens is that every election since 2016 people vote for change. Then they don't like it. And then they vote for change again. My money is on them doing it again in 2026 and 2028. But I do miss the 80's and 90's which were a great time for meeting in the middle and getting big shit done. Win the Cold War, perhaps? Budget surplus, anyone? 😀 Ain't gonna happen with this hot mess. So it's on Democrats, next time they get a shot, to see if they can deliver the kind of change people actually want. At least something like 51 % of them in at least enough states to get a majority of US Senators.