2026 Mid-Term Elections

[Elixir]

“He [Mamdani] will learn over time that growing a tax base is a winner and raising taxes is a loser … and that the hard-working 1% are allies, not enemies.”

IOW “he will learn that we can elect him or un-elect him because we can out-spend him every time.”

 

[Toni]

Now, many more young people know people of Arabic descent t, possibly more than they know people of Jewish descent. WWII seems so far away.

WWII may be far away, but 9/11 is certainly not. And it was Arab Muslims who attacked us then. And Palestinian Arab Muslims were celebrating in the streets.

Jews are not seen as the underdogs the same way they were in the 60’s-70’s. But Arabs are.

Being seen as an "underdog" does not indicate who is in the right. Ukrainians are in the right because they were invaded by Russia, not because they are underdogs. Israel is in the right because they were attacked by Gaza. They are not in the wrong because Gaza is "underdog". Being an "underdog" does not give anyone the right to invade their neighbors and murder and kidnap people by the hundreds. It does not give anybody the right to seek and plan the destruction of their neighbor.

These GenZ idiots falling for antisemitic and islamofascist propaganda would be on the side of Germany and Japan in 1945 because losing WWII suddenly makes them "underdogs". Poor underdog Hitler stuck in that musty bunker of his.

Kids today saw anyone who ‘ looked Arab’ regarded with suspicion after 9/11. What young generation does not love an underdog? Plus of course it is easier to see the Arab side to the Arab Israeli conflicts now compared with 50 years ago.

Arabs and Muslims were regarded with suspicion for a good reason. There should be more suspicion of Islamism today, not less. Look at what's happening in Europe, especially in the UK where the Green Party is increasingly becoming the party of the political Islam.

This is all a very surface analysis of how/why opinion in the US has shifted, deliberately as most people in the IS do not have a very good sense of history, geography or context for world events. Even more true of younger people, who, like their parents before them, like to see things differently and choose their own heroes—helped along by the omniscient media and propaganda machines. They correctly question every position their parents took as we boomers questioned our parents’ positions and they, their parents’.

There is a difference between questioning and automatic gainsaying. We should question what came before us, yes, but honest questioning means accepting "yes" for an answer as well.
Hamas, Hezbollah and IRGC are not heroes and everybody who views them as such is an idiot of the highest caliber.

It was a very small group of MEN who attacked us. Should we hate all men?

Obviously not. Most violent crime is committed by men. Most wars throughout history have been started by men.

We don’t hate men.

Honest questioning means looking for facts, context, understanding.

 

[Elixir]

It was a very small group of MEN who attacked us. Should we hate all men?

Well, to be perfectly fair and balanced, yes.
Probably killing them all is the only way to be sure you get all the bad ones.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Platner reaching for the easy to grab fruit. Worked for the GOP, so do a double dip. The trouble with populists, however, is solutions aren't as simple as cutting energy taxes and wealth taxes.

It does get tiring to hear how America is growing discontent with gasoline prices, when they have pushed for larger vehicles, fought inefficiency, and live so far away from work (yes, I get in some places that is the only place they can afford to live). While Trump's Iran military stupidity has direct influence on the price of gasoline right now, America's dependence on it has been driven by American apathy towards efficiency and planning.

Wealth tax is another thing. Yes, we need to develop ways to manage taxation of emergent wealth vehicles. The trouble we run into is that won't solve problems. We could seize all of the billionaires' wealth in the US and budge the US debt by 25% or so. The US has prioritized austerity and Americans are angry about the results, yet keep voting for more austerity.

America is just kind of nuts.

 

[Harry Bosch]

Platner reaching for the easy to grab fruit. Worked for the GOP, so do a double dip. The trouble with populists, however, is solutions aren't as simple as cutting energy taxes and wealth taxes.

It does get tiring to hear how America is growing discontent with gasoline prices, when they have pushed for larger vehicles, fought inefficiency, and live so far away from work (yes, I get in some places that is the only place they can afford to live). While Trump's Iran military stupidity has direct influence on the price of gasoline right now, America's dependence on it has been driven by American apathy towards efficiency and planning.

Wealth tax is another thing. Yes, we need to develop ways to manage taxation of emergent wealth vehicles. The trouble we run into is that won't solve problems. We could seize all of the billionaires' wealth in the US and budge the US debt by 25% or so. The US has prioritized austerity and Americans are angry about the results, yet keep voting for more austerity.

America is just kind of nuts.

Agreed. Americans want better jobs, less inflation, less taxes, more stuff. Taxes on wealth and focusing on woke (derail sorry) dosn't address these issues.

 

[thebeave]

It was a very small group of MEN who attacked us. Should we hate all men?

Well, to be perfectly fair and balanced, yes.
Probably killing them all is the only way to be sure you get all the bad ones.

Yikes! Sounds pretty drastic. You're not planning to <gulp> do yourself in, are you?*

* in case you do, I'll take your Tacoma off your hands. Mine's still wrecked.

 

[Rhea]

Platner reaching for the easy to grab fruit. Worked for the GOP, so do a double dip. The trouble with populists, however, is solutions aren't as simple as cutting energy taxes and wealth taxes.

It does get tiring to hear how America is growing discontent with gasoline prices, when they have pushed for larger vehicles, fought inefficiency, and live so far away from work (yes, I get in some places that is the only place they can afford to live). While Trump's Iran military stupidity has direct influence on the price of gasoline right now, America's dependence on it has been driven by American apathy towards efficiency and planning.

Wealth tax is another thing. Yes, we need to develop ways to manage taxation of emergent wealth vehicles. The trouble we run into is that won't solve problems. We could seize all of the billionaires' wealth in the US and budge the US debt by 25% or so. The US has prioritized austerity and Americans are angry about the results, yet keep voting for more austerity.

America is just kind of nuts.

Agreed. Americans want better jobs, less inflation, less taxes, more stuff. Taxes on wealth and focusing on woke (derail sorry) dosn't address these issues.

It kinda does, tho.
When you look at the amount of wealth that was scraped from the actual workers and shoveled to the wealthy by the power their money bought them in congress, then addressing that wealth and how it is used to scrape mkore money from the Americans— DOES address their inflation, taxes, etc.

 

[Elixir]

I never says 100% tax on anything. I said we could tax more fairly than we do now as we have in the past.

I think that when you get to ten billion, you should forfeit all but ten million of it to the fed and have to start over. The government gives you a massive gold coin symbolizing your ten billion dollars of support for poor people, and you and all your billionaire friends can collect them and compare stacks.

It was a very small group of MEN who attacked us. Should we hate all men?

Well, to be perfectly fair and balanced, yes.
Probably killing them all is the only way to be sure you get all the bad ones.

Yikes! Sounds pretty drastic. You're not planning to <gulp> do yourself in, are you?*

* in case you do, I'll take your Tacoma off your hands. Mine's still wrecked.

if I end up dead it will be at the tender hands of all them wimmens!
Of course you can have the Taco - I won’t be needing it.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Platner reaching for the easy to grab fruit. Worked for the GOP, so do a double dip. The trouble with populists, however, is solutions aren't as simple as cutting energy taxes and wealth taxes.

It does get tiring to hear how America is growing discontent with gasoline prices, when they have pushed for larger vehicles, fought inefficiency, and live so far away from work (yes, I get in some places that is the only place they can afford to live). While Trump's Iran military stupidity has direct influence on the price of gasoline right now, America's dependence on it has been driven by American apathy towards efficiency and planning.

Wealth tax is another thing. Yes, we need to develop ways to manage taxation of emergent wealth vehicles. The trouble we run into is that won't solve problems. We could seize all of the billionaires' wealth in the US and budge the US debt by 25% or so. The US has prioritized austerity and Americans are angry about the results, yet keep voting for more austerity.

America is just kind of nuts.

Agreed. Americans want better jobs, less inflation, less taxes, more stuff. Taxes on wealth and focusing on woke (derail sorry) dosn't address these issues.

In the sense that "tax the wealthy" isn't solving the budget issues.

The US sold its soul and has the shit worst set of priorities.

 

[Elixir]

The US sold its soul

MAGAts have sold the soul of the US.

and has the shit worst set of priorities.

You mean it’s not truly vital to coddle a demented rapist fraudster?

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Virginia Supreme Court rules "Oh no you didn't!" and undoes the ugly partisan gerrymander. It is the right ruling. But now we appear to be stuck between lesser partisan blue state legal systems and partisanly corrupt red state legal systems. Our democracy is on the verge of flatlining by the court doing the right thing.

And of course, the GOP have not a inkling of shame for trying to reverse the referendum.

 

[Toni]

The US sold its soul

MAGAts have sold the soul of the US.

and has the shit worst set of priorities.

You mean it’s not truly vital to coddle a demented rapist fraudster?

Coddle is bad enough. Truly terrible to coddle any POTUS.

What is worse is that some worship him. And the rest use that for their own purposes mostly grift and power.

 

[Shadowy Man]

Virginia Supreme Court rules "Oh no you didn't!" and undoes the ugly partisan gerrymander. It is the right ruling. But now we appear to be stuck between lesser partisan blue state legal systems and partisanly corrupt red state legal systems. Our democracy is on the verge of flatlining by the court doing the right thing.

And of course, the GOP have not an inkling of shame for trying to reverse the referendum.

It seems to me that this whole district drawing thing is inherently flawed. Is there a better system that could be employed?

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Virginia Supreme Court rules "Oh no you didn't!" and undoes the ugly partisan gerrymander. It is the right ruling. But now we appear to be stuck between lesser partisan blue state legal systems and partisanly corrupt red state legal systems. Our democracy is on the verge of flatlining by the court doing the right thing.

And of course, the GOP have not an inkling of shame for trying to reverse the referendum.

It seems to me that this whole district drawing thing is inherently flawed. Is there a better system that could be employed?

It is extremely easy to do in a fair and non-partisan manner. Computers are capable of all sorts of stuff and the software to spit out reasonable districting not only exists, it is readily available.

But Trump and the GOP have decided to make Gerrymandering an Olympic sport. And there are only French judges.

 

[Shadowy Man]

Virginia Supreme Court rules "Oh no you didn't!" and undoes the ugly partisan gerrymander. It is the right ruling. But now we appear to be stuck between lesser partisan blue state legal systems and partisanly corrupt red state legal systems. Our democracy is on the verge of flatlining by the court doing the right thing.

And of course, the GOP have not an inkling of shame for trying to reverse the referendum.

It seems to me that this whole district drawing thing is inherently flawed. Is there a better system that could be employed?

It is extremely easy to do in a fair and non-partisan manner. Computers are capable of all sorts of stuff and the software to spit out reasonable districting not only exists, it is readily available.

How do these programs decide who should get grouped together? That is, what are the criteria programmed in that are not racial or partisan? What does “fair” exactly mean in this context?

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Virginia Supreme Court rules "Oh no you didn't!" and undoes the ugly partisan gerrymander. It is the right ruling. But now we appear to be stuck between lesser partisan blue state legal systems and partisanly corrupt red state legal systems. Our democracy is on the verge of flatlining by the court doing the right thing.

And of course, the GOP have not an inkling of shame for trying to reverse the referendum.

It seems to me that this whole district drawing thing is inherently flawed. Is there a better system that could be employed?

It is extremely easy to do in a fair and non-partisan manner. Computers are capable of all sorts of stuff and the software to spit out reasonable districting not only exists, it is readily available.

How do these programs decide who should get grouped together? That is, what are the criteria programmed in that are not racial or partisan? What does “fair” exactly mean in this context?

Demographics, geography, maps.

 

[Shadowy Man]

Virginia Supreme Court rules "Oh no you didn't!" and undoes the ugly partisan gerrymander. It is the right ruling. But now we appear to be stuck between lesser partisan blue state legal systems and partisanly corrupt red state legal systems. Our democracy is on the verge of flatlining by the court doing the right thing.

And of course, the GOP have not an inkling of shame for trying to reverse the referendum.

It seems to me that this whole district drawing thing is inherently flawed. Is there a better system that could be employed?

It is extremely easy to do in a fair and non-partisan manner. Computers are capable of all sorts of stuff and the software to spit out reasonable districting not only exists, it is readily available.

How do these programs decide who should get grouped together? That is, what are the criteria programmed in that are not racial or partisan? What does “fair” exactly mean in this context?

Demographics, geography, maps.

Sorry, I was interested in more specificity here. I will try to look into this myself. When any lines are drawn, there will be subjectivity involved and I am curious how that can be done “fairly”, whatever that means.

 

[Toni]

Virginia Supreme Court rules "Oh no you didn't!" and undoes the ugly partisan gerrymander. It is the right ruling. But now we appear to be stuck between lesser partisan blue state legal systems and partisanly corrupt red state legal systems. Our democracy is on the verge of flatlining by the court doing the right thing.

And of course, the GOP have not an inkling of shame for trying to reverse the referendum.

It seems to me that this whole district drawing thing is inherently flawed. Is there a better system that could be employed?

It is extremely easy to do in a fair and non-partisan manner. Computers are capable of all sorts of stuff and the software to spit out reasonable districting not only exists, it is readily available.

How do these programs decide who should get grouped together? That is, what are the criteria programmed in that are not racial or partisan? What does “fair” exactly mean in this context?

It’s usually geographical proximity, and an attempt to include approximately the same number of people in each district.

 

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

Virginia Supreme Court rules "Oh no you didn't!" and undoes the ugly partisan gerrymander. It is the right ruling. But now we appear to be stuck between lesser partisan blue state legal systems and partisanly corrupt red state legal systems. Our democracy is on the verge of flatlining by the court doing the right thing.

And of course, the GOP have not an inkling of shame for trying to reverse the referendum.

It seems to me that this whole district drawing thing is inherently flawed. Is there a better system that could be employed?

Since district boundaries are completely arbitrary, why not do away with them? Could we, for representatives, do a statewide election and top N candidates win? Not really a good idea: let's say 1 person gets 99% of the vote, all the rest are statistically close and maybe some extremists. Maybe there is a better way to do it with instant run off voting that allows for diversity but also maximizes top choices.

 

[ZiprHead]

Anti-woke Vivek Ramaswamy confronts racism in his run for Ohio governor

CINCINNATI — Vivek Ramaswamy didn’t mention the racist taunts that follow him online or the GOP primary opponent who said he’s not a real American. But the Ohio gubernatorial candidate who clinched his party’s nomination this week alluded to bigotry on the right in his opening message to a town hall full of young Republicans.

Ramaswamy, a Hindu son of Indian immigrants, warned the crowd against adopting the same “victim” mentality that he said had afflicted the left. “The number one factor that determines whether you achieve your goals in life … is actually you,” he said at the May 1 event.

“It’s not the Jews,” Ramaswamy added. “It’s not the White people. It’s not the patriarchy. It’s not the Black people. It’s not the foreigners.”
It was a striking message from a candidate who has long cast racism as an obsession of Democrats and has more recently confronted it on the right. After building his political career denouncing “wokeness” on the left, at one point dismissing “the myth of white supremacy” during his 2024 presidential campaign, he is trying to steer his party away from the extremist fringes that have flared up in his own race.