2026 Mid-Term Elections

[Arctish]

Trump DOJ sues to block Alaska US Senate results if Republican incumbent loses

The Trump administration has preemptively filed a lawsuit seeking to block certification of Alaska’s US Senate election if the Republican incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan loses in the critical contest which could decide the balance of power in the Senate.

The lawsuit represents the latest attempt of the Trump Justice Department to insert itself in the administration of elections, running up against the minimal role the Constitution gives the Executive Branch. It alleges that a candidate named Daniel J. Sullivan could confuse voters and wants a court to potentially delay the certification of the election if the incumbent is defeated but would have won if “all votes cast for Daniel J. Sullivan” had “been cast instead for Senator Sullivan.”

President Donald Trump took credit for the legal challenge.

“Well, I’m the one that said ‘do it,’” Trump told reporters in Florida on Friday when asked about the lawsuit. The president has regularly complained about the presence of the non-incumbent Sullivan on the ballot.

In June, ahead of the state’s primary, the Alaska state Supreme Court ruled that Daniel J. Sullivan should be included on the ballot after the state’s Division of Elections had removed him.

Muller noted that Alaska election officials “went out of their way” to reduce voter confusion, by including on the ballot the candidates’ middle initials, identifying Dan S. Sullivan as the incumbent, and leaving off the GOP party designation of the other Daniel Sullivan.

“This is friendly fire, this is suing Republicans in Alaska, I don’t know that is going to be taken well by state officials,” Muller said.

^That's bad.

This, reported by the Alaska Beacon, is worse:

In numerous prior interviews, Dan J. Sullivan has said that his candidacy was motivated by dissatisfaction with Sen. Sullivan, and that he is not linked to the Democratic Party or Peltola’s campaign.

Democratic officials have said the same thing.

But that hasn’t stopped Trump and Sen. Sullivan — as well as other Republicans — from accusing both Peltola and Petersburg Sullivan of fraud.

Trump and other administration officials hinted throughout the summer and fall that they were working to bring a criminal case against Dan J. Sullivan.

And there's also this:

“I told him — I just shook his hand, took a picture — I said I hope you’re going to make sure there’s no cheating, because any place you have rank(ed) choice, you have damn bad cheating. And we can’t let that happen. So, we’re going to defend the integrity of Alaska’s elections,” Trump said at the Oct. 13 event.

The Republican Party has been trying to eliminate ranked choice voting in Alaska ever since it was adopted. They can't freeze out moderates anymore because nowadays the primaries are open instead of members-only and there are dozens of candidates on the primary ballot representing a much broader range of political stances. And Big Money can't buy elections as easily or as blatantly with the current provisions that require candidates to disclose where they got their campaign financing. That's why there is yet again a measure on the ballot to eliminate ranked-choice voting and why the GOP in Alaska is plastering the State with campaign signs to persuade voters to go back to the previous system where the Party leaders chose the candidates.

It's pretty obvious Trump is going to have his minions attempt to seize ballots and to stop the counting of mail-in ballots. And Senator Daniel S. Sullivan (Republican, incumbent) will kiss his ass and thank him for the election interference.

 

[crazyfingers]

The Department of InJustice is despicable. Blanche is despicable and Piece-O-Shit is completely evil.

 

[Ford]

The Department of InJustice is despicable. Blanche is despicable and Piece-O-Shit is completely evil.

I'd like to think we're approaching a "King Charles I of England" moment, but it appears we're headed towards more of an "end of the Roman Republic/start of the Empire" thing.

Not that I'm opposed to Trump meeting a bunch of people with sharp objects, but...

 

[Shadowy Man]

How can one have standing to sue for something that hasn’t happened yet?

I’m sure that Thomas and Alito will find a way to explain it to me.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

How can one have standing to sue for something that hasn’t happened yet?

I’m sure that Thomas and Alito will find a way to explain it to me.

The lawsuit is part quasi-legal, part MAGA movement. They've been setting the narrative for this for a while. This continues it.

I'd agree, it is dirty pool to have two Dan Sullivans on the ballot. But Alaska Supreme Court has already ruled on this. And for fuck sakes, W "won" 2000 because of a shitty ballot design in one damn Democratic county in Florida. So, they need to deal with it, but this isn't about democracy much anymore. Trump's actions are likely driving more people to early voting because of crap like this. That would be yet another unprecedented Presidential impact.

I wish Alaska wasn't an issue, but the Dems need it to get the Senate. With the discovery of a third fake polling company, potentially a major GOP rat phucking as Jack Sims is connected with at least two of the vacant "polling" firms. One of which had the Mississippi, OMG are you serious it is only 4 pts... a subsequent Alabama poll would imply Mississippi may not be up for grabs. The intent of the polls is unclear, but I don't believe there is big money in polling, so why would they publish fake polls while not even getting paid. The most optimistic answer is they are trying to manipulate gambling markets. The worst, they are trying to manipulate the election outcome by feeding false data into the system. Democrats have internal polling, so it shouldn't be that simple to manipulate things, but there aren't many reasons to publish fake polls. And to poll aggregating websites, there is no reason to aggregate polls of companies that are anonymous!

Back to Alaska, America is stupid and Trump's efforts are likely to bear fruit because... the world bows to the asshole who is beholden to Russia's oligarchy because he was a failure of a businessman. His leadership has been so shit, but who cares. It took over 3 years to finally have W pay for awful leadership command in Iraq. But we are facing half a dozen Senate races at within the margin of error... leader below 50 points. Because America is fucking dumb.

 

[unapologetic]

I know, it's "Free Beacon", but they do have the fundraiser posters.

Did you say FREE BACON?
Sign me up.

I dragged my mom out to vote instead of mail-in ballot because there was just no trust mail-in voting was going to not be screwed with.

Yeah, I don't get it. Sure you want to mail-in to spite Rump. But it's just too risky, till he's gone.

 

[unapologetic]

DHS asked CISA to hack a voting machine - MSNOW 1 min.

 

[Derec]

Sigh. I love you Derec but I don’t remember all of our interactions.

I try to.

I’m not certain how you define Arab vs Muslim vs ‘Islamist.’

It's not how I define it, it's what the words mean. Islamist (I am not sure why you put it in quotes) is somebody who wants to make the tenets of Islam the basis for government. As such it is a big problem when Islamists start infiltrating a political party.

As I’ve written before I know/have know a lot of people from Arab countries or whose family came from Arab countries. Some were Muslim, some were Christian, some atheist.

Not all Muslims are Islamists, and not all Arabs are Muslims. Of course. But my statement was in reference to there already being an Islamist conference in Detroit in 1991. That implies the existence of a sufficient supporter base. It is also the conference Abdel-Rahman (the WTC bombing guy) and Hamawy drove to together.

I am not fond of some of the associations of these two men but I can understand how they may have come to be.

That still does not excuse it.

I think that it is a mistake to condemn someone who acted as a translator for someone else on that fact alone.

I think translating for a terrorist leader is a very big deal. And I think that after 9/11 he would have been brought up on material support charges for it. And that's not the only thing he did - as I said, the two men drove together (not a short trip, New Jersey to Detroit) to an Islamist conference where the Blind Sheikh vexed about "conquering the land of the infidels". And Hamawy also testified on the sheikh's behalf during his trial. That adds up to way more than casual connections between two immigrants.
And things go beyond his associations with BS. He was also in Bosnia, ostensibly on a medical trip, where he worked with a group affiliated with Al Qaeda.
There is also Hamawy's personal life. According to his wiki page, he is married with four children. But I could not find any photos of him and his wife. So he seems to be one of those Muslims who keep their women in a cupboard ("it's not a cupboard, it's a small room!"). I'd think as a feminist you'd be concerned about that. Or do muzzies get a special dispensation for oppressing and controlling their womenfolk?

I think it is a mistake to assume that members of any group are a monolith.

But that's not what I am doing.

I’m not fond of anti-Israel rhetoric either but in recent years, Israel has not helped itself.

The anti-Israel rhetoric has been strong ever since 10/7. No matter what Israel does, except meekly let themselves be genocided, will result in this kind of rhetoric from the far left and their Islamist allies.

Make no mistake: I believe in Israel’s right to exist.

People like El-Sayed, Hamawy, Chevalier et al definitely do not.

Releasing hostages in a timely manner could have saved thousands of lives.

Hamas and their allies were not going to do that without Israel taking the war to them.

So could some moderation of Israel’s response.

What concretely do you think they could have done? Hamas and other Palestinian groups hide among the civilian population. There is video evidence of rocket launchers placed among tents. Mohammed Deif was holed up with cache of explosives in Al Mawasi, a supposed humanitarian area. Mohammed Sinwar was hiding out in a tunnel underneath the European Hospital.
Israel haters don't care about any of that.

 

[Derec]

Can you point to where you have to be licensed to call yourself a “physician”? I could just be missing it.

So now you are defending Abdulrahman's use of "physician"? Hypocrisy is strong with y'all.

As far as the AMA definition, and from what I can understand, the purpose of it was specifically to distinguish between MDs and DO vs. midlevel providers who may be tempted to use "Dr." if they earned e.g. a doctorate in nursing. That's probably why they weren't as careful delineating the boundary between a non-licensed and non-practicing med school graduate vs. a licensed physician.

How about these definitions:

From the National Cancer Institute:

A person who is trained and licensed to practice medicine. Physicians help prevent, diagnose, treat, and manage injuries, diseases, and other conditions. There are many different types of physicians, including internists, pediatricians, psychiatrists, and surgeons.

Merriam-Webster:

a person trained in the art of healing
specifically : a health care professional (such as a dermatologist, internist, pediatrician, or urologist) who has earned a medical degree, is clinically experienced, and is licensed to practice medicine as usually distinguished from surgery : a doctor of medicine or a doctor of osteopathic medicine

Even US Code:

(7)Physician
The term “physician” means a doctor of medicine legally authorized to practice medicine by the State in which the physician performs such function or action.

Abdulrahman graduated from med school, but he is not, nor has he ever been, a physician.

 

[Shadowy Man]

Can you point to where you have to be licensed to call yourself a “physician”? I could just be missing it.

So now you are defending Abdulrahman's use of "physician"? Hypocrisy is strong with y'all.

As far as the AMA definition, and from what I can understand, the purpose of it was specifically to distinguish between MDs and DO vs. midlevel providers who may be tempted to use "Dr." if they earned e.g. a doctorate in nursing. That's probably why they weren't as careful delineating the boundary between a non-licensed and non-practicing med school graduate vs. a licensed physician.

How about these definitions:

From the National Cancer Institute:

A person who is trained and licensed to practice medicine. Physicians help prevent, diagnose, treat, and manage injuries, diseases, and other conditions. There are many different types of physicians, including internists, pediatricians, psychiatrists, and surgeons.

Merriam-Webster:

a person trained in the art of healing
specifically : a health care professional (such as a dermatologist, internist, pediatrician, or urologist) who has earned a medical degree, is clinically experienced, and is licensed to practice medicine as usually distinguished from surgery : a doctor of medicine or a doctor of osteopathic medicine

Even US Code:

(7)Physician
The term “physician” means a doctor of medicine legally authorized to practice medicine by the State in which the physician performs such function or action.

Abdulrahman graduated from med school, but he is not, nor has he ever been, a physician.

I was just looking it up and found the AMA definition first. I guess if there are other definitions that include licensing, as you allude to, that is fine. I didn’t see those . I am not defending the use of the word “physician”. I don’t really care about it. Didn’t even care about that lady who was out in less than a scaramucci. So don’t accuse me of hypocrisy.

He does deserve the title “doctor” though since he has a PhD.

 

[ZiprHead]

Woman in ad who said a Democrat endangers kids pleaded guilty to endangering kids. Shellie Flockhart, who called Iowa Democratic House candidate Sarah Trone Garriott “dangerous” for kids, pleaded guilty after authorities said she drove drunk with her children in the car in 2017.

A Republican woman in a campaign commercial gave a grave warning about Sarah Trone Garriott, the Democratic candidate in one of Iowa’s most competitive House districts.

“When it comes to our kids, Sarah is just plain dangerous,” says Shellie Flockhart, a Dallas Center city councilwoman identified in the ad by her first name.

Flockhart, 55, pleaded guilty to charges related to child endangerment and driving under the influence after authorities said she drove drunk with two of her children in the car in 2017. Flockhart provided a one-page statement to The Washington Post with conditions for its use that would violate The Post’s editorial standards.

After this article published online, Flockhart posted a longer version of that statement on X, where she described the episode as a “a profound failure in judgment that endangered those I love most.” The statement said she has committed to working a sobriety program and surrendering her life to God.

Flockhart’s detractors on social media in recent years have brought up her criminal history.

 

[bilby]

The most optimistic answer is they are trying to manipulate gambling markets. The worst, they are trying to manipulate the election outcome by feeding false data into the system.

My guess is that it's an effort to shore up GOP turnout. Of course, if they can also rip off the gambling markets at the same time, that's a win-win (or perhaps a cheat-cheat?) scenario.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Trump apparently is moonlighting for the Dems and helping create negative ad content for their campaign ads.

Speaking at a rally in Georgia, Trump said that oil prices are "temporarily high," but added that the throttling of the Strait of Hormuz has pushed oil buyers to American companies with operations in Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana.

"The United States oil and gas business is making hundreds of billions of dollars," Trump said. "I don't give a damn, I'm going to say it — we're making a freaking fortune."

This is tone deaf for being tone deaf. The dumbest fucking man to ever be US President, by a long shot, doesn't quite get that the Americans are paying the $100 or so billions at the pump. The gas companies are making a fortune at OUR expense. It gets better.

"I can see just the fake headlines — 'President Trump is talking about all the money they're making while people are suffering at the pump,'" Trump said at the Georgia rally. "That'll be the headline."

Yes, Trump, because that is what you fucking did.

 

[Derec]

I was just looking it up and found the AMA definition first. I guess if there are other definitions that include licensing, as you allude to, that is fine. I didn’t see those . I am not defending the use of the word “physician”. I don’t really care about it.

I was specifically responding to Playball, who didn't know that Abdulrahman called himself a "physician".

Now if he called himself a Physician, it would be different.

Didn’t even care about that lady who was out in less than a scaramucci. So don’t accuse me of hypocrisy.

The hypocrisy is more general, and not pointed at just you specifically. Especially our media is doing a poor job of putting any scrutiny on El-Sayed, Hamawy and their Ilk. They are being treated as if they were normal Democrats, when they are anything but. Just look at what CNN, NY Times etc. are writing about Abdulrahman recently.

He does deserve the title “doctor” though since he has a PhD.

MD, but sure. He is no physician though, and should not be calling himself one.

 

[robnisch]

MSN

Peltola was in a car crash!!

 

[Derec]

You interpret purging the gov’t of the repressive brutal police as “going after dissidents “?

That's not what the letter said. It said purging media and police of non-MB people. Also, did you even read the article? Morsi, the MB president, was oppressive himself.

The controversial progressive signed the letter to Mohamed Morsi in 2012 — just before Morsi’s government embarked on a cruel crackdown on journalists in Egypt, targeting at least half a dozen for “insulting Islam” and “insulting the president,” ultimately culminating in backlash and a coup.

No, in the grand scheme of things, I don’t think it is a big deal.

I think support for MB that he espoused both in that letter and in his oped for HuffPo is a big deal. Especially coupled with him taking funding from an MB-affiliated PAC and him attending and speaking at an Islamist conference where speakers were openly pro-terrorism.

Especially compared to the epic deal of the magatard Republican opponent.

I wish both parties nominated better candidates. But if Rogers is rightly criticized for what he said and did, then The Sayed should not be getting a pass either.

I give you credit for at least focusing on something he actually did.

I always do.

 

[Shadowy Man]

Now if he called himself a Physician, it would be different.

Didn’t even care about that lady who was out in less than a scaramucci. So don’t accuse me of hypocrisy.

The hypocrisy is more general, and not pointed at just you specifically.

Unless you can point to me specifically being hypocritical I would appreciate an apology. I consider hypocrisy being a very negative, anti-intellectual trait and take the accusation quite seriously.

A previous poster here accused me of saying things I didn’t say and in the end when I pressed him on it I was the one getting punished for calling him a liar and not him for being a liar.

 

[laughing dog]

You interpret purging the gov’t of the repressive brutal police as “going after dissidents “?

That's not what the letter said. It said purging media and police of non-MB people.

. Yes, the remnants of the previous repressive regime.

Also, did you even read the article? Morsi, the MB president, was oppressive himself.

Yes he was. But according to your article, Dr El Sayed didn’t expect him to be as bad as Iran. That leaves a lot of latitude in interpretation,
but I think you stretch the limits of credulity.

The controversial progressive signed the letter to Mohamed Morsi in 2012 — just before Morsi’s government embarked on a cruel crackdown on journalists in Egypt, targeting at least half a dozen for “insulting Islam” and “insulting the president,” ultimately culminating in backlash and a coup.

No, in the grand scheme of things, I don’t think it is a big deal.

I think support for MB that he espoused both in that letter and in his oped for HuffPo is a big deal. Especially coupled with him taking funding from an MB-affiliated PAC and him attending and speaking at an Islamist conference where speakers were openly pro-terrorism.

. You understand conferences are for exchanging views and ideas, and that attendance doesn’t necessarily signify anything.

Especially compared to the epic deal of the magatard Republican opponent.

I wish both parties nominated better candidates. But if Rogers is rightly criticized for what he said and did, then The Sayed should not be getting a pass either.

. Whining isn’t criticism. Fear mongering isn’t criticism.

I give you credit for at least focusing on something he actually did.

I always do.

Except when you don’t. Dr El Sayed is not responsible for his in laws.

 

[Patooka]

Jan. 6 Election Deniers Are Back on the Ballot

From California to Florida, Republicans who backed Trump’s false claims about the 2020 election are running for office.

capitalandmain.com

The group defines an election denier as someone who “participated in spreading Donald Trump’s lie about the 2020 election, refused to certify the results of that election, or attempted to overturn the results.” Its tally includes 163 races for Congress and 30 races for statewide offices that play a role in elections — including governors, attorneys general and secretaries of state.

He's my question - if you think the elections are rigged, why the living fuck are you legitimising them by participating in them?

 

[Shadowy Man]

Jan. 6 Election Deniers Are Back on the Ballot

From California to Florida, Republicans who backed Trump’s false claims about the 2020 election are running for office.

capitalandmain.com

The group defines an election denier as someone who “participated in spreading Donald Trump’s lie about the 2020 election, refused to certify the results of that election, or attempted to overturn the results.” Its tally includes 163 races for Congress and 30 races for statewide offices that play a role in elections — including governors, attorneys general and secretaries of state.

He's my question - if you think the elections are rigged, why the living fuck are you legitimising them by participating in them?

Because the ones they win are not rigged. Only the ones they lose.