2026 Mid-Term Elections

[lpetrich]

The missing Rep. Tom Kean Jr. finally speaks … sort of | NJ Spotlight News - June 4, 2026 - "The Republican congressman hasn't been seen in months -- though his office has found multiple ways to puff up his public 'presence'"

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the Jewish Federation of West Central New Jersey, which has steadfastly supported Jewish communities in Somerset, Hunterdon and Warren counties for more than six decades,” Kean said Tuesday in the House of Representatives.

Actually, Kean did not do this.

He did not “rise” to address the House.

He did not lift his head, paper in hand, standing in the chamber well, and speak. No words left his mouth.

In fact, he was not even at the Capitol.

Amid his three-month absence from Washington due to undisclosed health reasons, six Kean speeches have been slipped into the Congressional Record, the official historical diary of Congress.

Among other ways to seem present without actually being present.

Rep. Kean seems like Soviet leader Yuri Andropov, who spent the last months of his life out of sight, with a stated reason that he has a "bad cold".

 

[Jason Harvestdancer]

Thomas Massie (R-KY) has lost his primary. The big PACs, as well as Trump, all came out for his primary opponent. Over $31 million was spent in the primary against Massie.

I see him as the intellectual heir of Ron Paul (sorry, but the son is not the father) and this is a very disappointing outcome to me.

 

[Jason Harvestdancer]

While there's a lot about Platner to disagree with, as a fellow veteran I am willing to overlook the drinking.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Thomas Massie (R-KY) has lost his primary. The big PACs, as well as Trump, all came out for his primary opponent. Over $31 million was spent in the primary against Massie.

I find it odd when the money matters and when it doesn't. When Trump's nod matters and when it doesn't. Trump's pick for US Senate in Georgia went over Kemp's pick. But Trump's pick which was also Kemp's pick for Governor lost to a Billionaire outsider.

I see him as the intellectual heir of Ron Paul (sorry, but the son is not the father) and this is a very disappointing outcome to me.

That's okay, the father wasn't really the father either. Ron Paul, the Libertarian version of Bernie Sanders.

 

[Derec]

While there's a lot about Platner to disagree with, as a fellow veteran I am willing to overlook the drinking.

Drinking itself is one thing. Violent behavior while drinking is quite another. Same with driving drunk (see Walz, Tim "Knucklehead").

 

[Derec]

If you agree, why are you arguing?

I don't agree. It's on topic. Purposely misunderstanding what somebody wrote is quite sophomoric, with emphasis on "moric".

The rules are in place for the 2026 midterms. Whining about them contributes nothing about the 2026 midterm elections. You should start a thread about better election procedures.

Since the rules affect the 2026 Midterms , and in this case in very negative ways. So it's appropriate to discuss it here.

 

[Derec]

I didn't say it was trivial, but it seemed trivial in comparison. Really, pay attention.

It's not trivial, neither in absolute terms nor in comparison. And you have not shown it to be so. You can just throw insults around, but you have no substance.

And while I agree that Collins has been too willing to defer to the Trump administration, Dems should really have worked to recruit better candidates instead of letting a couple of extremist activists (Daniel Moraff and Leanne Fan) select the eventual nominee.

Only 2 people voted in the primary?

Did anybody say that?

He did win the primary, sure, but he was cast by these activists in a way not dissimilar to how record label producers cast boy bands back in the day. They took this child of privilege (his father is a lawyer who paid for Platner's house, and his mother owns a restaurant) who is cosplaying as an oyster farmer (most of his sales are to his mom's restaurant and his farm makes no profit). And yet they have cast him as some kind of working class hero.

 

[Derec]

The Women Who Have Accused Brett Kavanaugh (Published 2018)

Three women have come forward to accuse President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee of sexual assault or misconduct. He has denied the allegations.

www.nytimes.com

I am aware of the accusations. But none of them have any evidence. And I have already shown that
a) even CBF's friend Leland Keyser is skeptical of her story
b) Deborah Ramirez admitted that her memory of the party was hazy and that she could not be sure that it was Kav's dick that she saw.

That leaves the third accuser, Julie Swetnick, she who is represented by Stormy Daniels' lawyer. I did not address her specifically in this thread, because I honestly did not think even you find her credible.
Senate panel refers Avenatti, Kavanaugh accuser Swetnick for criminal investigation

“Swetnick made her allegations in a sworn statement to the committee on September 26. In an October 1 interview with NBC News, however, Swetnick specifically and explicitly back-tracked or contradicted key parts of her sworn statement on these and other allegations,” the Judiciary Committee said in a statement.
[...]
She claimed in the affidavit that she learned of efforts by the justice and his friend, Mark Judge, “to spike the drinks of girls at house parties I attended with grain alcohol and/or drugs so as to cause girls to lose inhibitions and their ability to say ‘No.’”
Swetnick said she “witnessed efforts by Mark Judge, Brett Kavanaugh and others to cause girls to become inebriated and disoriented so they could then be ‘gang raped’ in a side room or bedroom by a ‘train’ of numerous boys.”
“I have a firm recollection of seeing boys lined up outside rooms at many of these parties waiting for their ‘turn’ with a girl inside the room,” Swetnick said. “These boys included Mark Judge and Brett Kavanaugh.”
But in her NBC News Interview when asked if she saw Kavanaugh or Judge spike drinks, she said she saw Kavanaugh “around the punch containers” and had seen him “giving red cups to quite a few girls during that time frame.” But, Swetnick added, “I don’t know what he did. But I saw him by them, yes.”

[emphasis added]
Quite a difference between her initial claim and the subsequent backpedal.

The fourth allegation from the NY Times article is even more baseless, because it's completely anonymous.

Exposing a penis in public is public indecency. Attempting to push it in the face of an unwilling person is sexual assault.

It is very uncertain that this is how it went down, and it is also uncertain to which larger object the cylinder in question was attached to.
She admitted that she had hazy memory of that party, to the extent that she could not be sure it was Little Kav in the first place. And haziness of the memory could also affect other details, like how close the cylinder came to her face.

 

[laughing dog]

I didn't say it was trivial, but it seemed trivial in comparison. Really, pay attention.

It's not trivial, neither in absolute terms nor in comparison. And you have not shown it to be so. You can just throw insults around, but you have no substance.

I did show it, contrary to your ironic response.

And while I agree that Collins has been too willing to defer to the Trump administration, Dems should really have worked to recruit better candidates instead of letting a couple of extremist activists (Daniel Moraff and Leanne Fan) select the eventual nominee.

Only 2 people voted in the primary?

Did anybody say that?

He did win the primary, sure, but he was cast by these activists in a way not dissimilar to how record label producers cast boy bands back in the day. They took this child of privilege (his father is a lawyer who paid for Platner's house, and his mother owns a restaurant) who is cosplaying as an oyster farmer (most of his sales are to his mom's restaurant and his farm makes no profit). And yet they have cast him as some kind of working class hero.

Voters are responsible for their choices. No one was forced to vote for him. So 2 people did not select the nominee.

 

[Derec]

I did show it, contrary to your ironic response.

Wrong, as usual.

Voters are responsible for their choices. No one was forced to vote for him. So 2 people did not select the nominee.

I did not say only two people elected him. But these activists selected him as the Mills challenger and great leftist hope.

 

[laughing dog]

I did show it, contrary to your ironic response.

Wrong, as usual.

In post 1,127 I wrote "Helping to insulate Trump from his actions, gutting the Voting Rights Act and making an important medical service available to millions makes Platner’s behavior (actual and alleged) seem trivial."

Voters are responsible for their choices. No one was forced to vote for him. So 2 people did not select the nominee.

I did not say only two people elected him. But these activists selected him as the Mills challenger and great leftist hope.

Pay attention to the the part in italicized bold-face.

 

[Derec]

In post 1,127 I wrote "Helping to insulate Trump from his actions, gutting the Voting Rights Act and making an important medical service available to millions makes Platner’s behavior (actual and alleged) seem trivial."

I do not think that makes wearing Nazi symbols on his body, DUIs and domestic violence, calling himself a communist, praising Hamas, calling all police officers "bastards", going on podcasts with antisemitic conspiracy theorists, etc. in any way trivial.

Platner sat for lengthy interview with antisemitic conspiracy theorist, said he was ‘longtime fan’ of his show

Maine has 1.4M people. Surely there is somebody better to challenge Collins than this silver-spoon-born blue-collar-cosplayer who exhibited very poor judgment throughout his life. Why should we expect him to show any better judgment while in Senate?

Pay attention to the the part in italicized bold-face.

They selected him as the standard bearer of the Bernie/DSA wing of the party as opposed to mainstream candidate Mills.

Mills was also flawed - too old and not really up for the fight.

 

[Toni]

The Women Who Have Accused Brett Kavanaugh (Published 2018)

Three women have come forward to accuse President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee of sexual assault or misconduct. He has denied the allegations.

www.nytimes.com

I am aware of the accusations. But none of them have any evidence. And I have already shown that
a) even CBF's friend Leland Keyser is skeptical of her story
b) Deborah Ramirez admitted that her memory of the party was hazy and that she could not be sure that it was Kav's dick that she saw.

That leaves the third accuser, Julie Swetnick, she who is represented by Stormy Daniels' lawyer. I did not address her specifically in this thread, because I honestly did not think even you find her credible.
Senate panel refers Avenatti, Kavanaugh accuser Swetnick for criminal investigation

“Swetnick made her allegations in a sworn statement to the committee on September 26. In an October 1 interview with NBC News, however, Swetnick specifically and explicitly back-tracked or contradicted key parts of her sworn statement on these and other allegations,” the Judiciary Committee said in a statement.
[...]
She claimed in the affidavit that she learned of efforts by the justice and his friend, Mark Judge, “to spike the drinks of girls at house parties I attended with grain alcohol and/or drugs so as to cause girls to lose inhibitions and their ability to say ‘No.’”
Swetnick said she “witnessed efforts by Mark Judge, Brett Kavanaugh and others to cause girls to become inebriated and disoriented so they could then be ‘gang raped’ in a side room or bedroom by a ‘train’ of numerous boys.”
“I have a firm recollection of seeing boys lined up outside rooms at many of these parties waiting for their ‘turn’ with a girl inside the room,” Swetnick said. “These boys included Mark Judge and Brett Kavanaugh.”
But in her NBC News Interview when asked if she saw Kavanaugh or Judge spike drinks, she said she saw Kavanaugh “around the punch containers” and had seen him “giving red cups to quite a few girls during that time frame.” But, Swetnick added, “I don’t know what he did. But I saw him by them, yes.”

[emphasis added]
Quite a difference between her initial claim and the subsequent backpedal.

The fourth allegation from the NY Times article is even more baseless, because it's completely anonymous.

Exposing a penis in public is public indecency. Attempting to push it in the face of an unwilling person is sexual assault.

It is very uncertain that this is how it went down, and it is also uncertain to which larger object the cylinder in question was attached to.
She admitted that she had hazy memory of that party, to the extent that she could not be sure it was Little Kav in the first place. And haziness of the memory could also affect other details, like how close the cylinder came to her face.

Sure. The women’s memories are hazy because of alcohol but Kav’s are perfectly clear although he was drunk and had a lot more at stake.

Multiple women Abd ig if I remember some of his make friends backed up at least one account.

 

[ZiprHead]

Sure. The women’s memories are hazy because of alcohol but Kav’s are perfectly clear although he was drunk and had a lot more at stake.

Strange you disbelieve the three women referenced about Kavenaugh but believe the Republican operative woman about Platner. It's almost is if you have an agenda to keep.

 

[Toni]

Sure. The women’s memories are hazy because of alcohol but Kav’s are perfectly clear although he was drunk and had a lot more at stake.

Strange you disbelieve the three women referenced about Kavenaugh but believe the Republican operative woman about Platner. It's almost is if you have an agenda to keep.

I don’t think you meant that for me?

I believe the accusers of Kavanaugh and probably the accusers of Platner. I’m more than a little pissed that the Dems are putting Platner forward.

 

[laughing dog]

In post 1,127 I wrote "Helping to insulate Trump from his actions, gutting the Voting Rights Act and making an important medical service available to millions makes Platner’s behavior (actual and alleged) seem trivial."

I do not think that makes wearing Nazi symbols on his body, DUIs and domestic violence, calling himself a communist, praising Hamas, calling all police officers "bastards", going on podcasts with antisemitic conspiracy theorists, etc. in any way trivial.

I don't understand how you can persistently miss the point of a comparison.

Platner sat for lengthy interview with antisemitic conspiracy theorist, said he was ‘longtime fan’ of his show

Maine has 1.4M people. Surely there is somebody better to challenge Collins than this silver-spoon-born blue-collar-cosplayer who exhibited very poor judgment throughout his life. Why should we expect him to show any better judgment while in Senate?

Pay attention to the the part in italicized bold-face.

They selected him as the standard bearer of the Bernie/DSA wing of the party as opposed to mainstream candidate Mills.

Mills was also flawed - too old and not really up for the fight.

The voters still picked him - it is on them.

 

[ZiprHead]

Sure. The women’s memories are hazy because of alcohol but Kav’s are perfectly clear although he was drunk and had a lot more at stake.

Strange you disbelieve the three women referenced about Kavenaugh but believe the Republican operative woman about Platner. It's almost is if you have an agenda to keep.

I don’t think you meant that for me?

I believe the accusers of Kavanaugh and probably the accusers of Platner. I’m more than a little pissed that the Dems are putting Platner forward.

Sorry. It was for derec. DOH!

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

In post 1,127 I wrote "Helping to insulate Trump from his actions, gutting the Voting Rights Act and making an important medical service available to millions makes Platner’s behavior (actual and alleged) seem trivial."

I do not think that makes wearing Nazi symbols on his body, DUIs and domestic violence, calling himself a communist, praising Hamas, calling all police officers "bastards", going on podcasts with antisemitic conspiracy theorists, etc. in any way trivial.

Platner sat for lengthy interview with antisemitic conspiracy theorist, said he was ‘longtime fan’ of his show

Maine has 1.4M people. Surely there is somebody better to challenge Collins than this silver-spoon-born blue-collar-cosplayer who exhibited very poor judgment throughout his life. Why should we expect him to show any better judgment while in Senate?

Well, the trouble is, Maine is a New England state, but also a wilderness state as well. It is a liberal New Hampshire... but not by very much.

What came out of the primary is that the Dems had no one really established other than Gov. Mills... and the voters didn't want to vote for another old person. Platner's candidacy just kind of happened. The party wasn't looking to nominate him. And most people don't read the websites you read Derec. The Dems didn't want him because unknowns can have baggage. And he definitely ended up having baggage. So now the people in Maine have a tough decision to make. Vote for the person who helped end Roe v Wade and Chevron (but saved ACA) or the other candidate that has issues, but could help take control of the Senate from Trump.

This is a nightmare vote for pragmatics. For a pragmatic liberal, both a vote for Collins and Platner are pragmatic. Both votes hold the nose, both votes hold to some level of value while also betraying some level of value. I'm glad I get to vote easily for Brown (Senate) and Sykes (House).

 

[Derec]

Sure. The women’s memories are hazy because of alcohol but Kav’s are perfectly clear although he was drunk and had a lot more at stake.

Nobody is saying his memory is "perfectly clear". But Ramirez admitted that her memory is hazy. And yet you still insist it must have happened and that Kav is guilty. Again, for the millionth time:

On the night of the alleged incident, Ramirez admits to being drunk and, since then, having gaps in her memory. According to The New Yorker, “she was reluctant to characterize Kavanaugh’s role in the alleged incident with certainty.”
The magazine reported that it took six days of “carefully assessing her memories and consulting with her attorney” for Ramirez to go on record accusing Kavanaugh.” The Times reported that Ramirez had contacted several of her former classmates to see if they remembered the incident because she could not be certain that Kavanaugh had been the perpetrator. CNN has not been able to find any firsthand eyewitnesses to corroborate her story.[/B]

If she doesn't know what happened, or who did it, I fail to see how you can know all that.

Multiple women Abd ig if I remember some of his make friends backed up at least one account.

I think all that they back up is that was drinking a lot when young. There is no corroboration of any of the specific claims, but we have exculpatory evidence of Ramirez admitting that she wasn't sure it was even Kav who did anything, and Swetnick backtracking about what she actually observed.

Even if anything happened, there just isn't any evidence.

 

[Derec]

Strange you disbelieve the three women referenced about Kavenaugh

Because there is a reason for disbelief. CBF was vague about when and where the alleged assault happened, and her friend Keyser does not think her story is likely. Ramirez said that she could not even be sure that the alleged penis belonged to Kav. And Swetnick backtracked about what she observed, and has her own unrelated credibility issues.

but believe the

I do not necessarily believe or disbelieve her. I am agnostic. But it is quite telling that most here (with notable exception of Toni who thinks the man is always guilty) accept allegations against Kav as a fact

Republican operative woman about Platner.

And the women who accused Kav are Democrats. So what? Just because she is a Republican does not mean she is lying.

It's almost is if you have an agenda to keep.

One part of the "agenda" is to point out the hypocrisy.

The other is that Platner should not be anywhere near a Senate seat because of his judgment. Even without the DV accusation, there is plenty of evidence of poor decision making throughout his life: his Nazi tattoo, him appearing on an antisemitic conspiracy theory podcast, his Reddit posts, his DUI, etc.
Why do you think he is a good choice for Maine?