“The @NRSC & @SenCoryGardner are not only spreading lies & nutty theories, but undermining democracy.”
The blue wave keeps on climbing higher—this report shows why the phenomenal victories for Dems last Tuesday were overshadowed by a few high-profile disappointments, and why Dems—especially in Texas—should be celebrating their victories.
Despite disappointing results in Florida and Georgia’s high-profile recounts, last week’s election is the gift that keeps on giving for Dems. Kyrsten Sinema won the Senate in Arizona, making her the first Democrat from that state in Congress since 1988, the first female senator from the state, and the first openly bisexual woman in Congress.
In New Jersey, a House race was finally called for Democratic candidate Andy Kim against his Trump-loving opponent, leaving only one lonely GOP rep from the state in the House. Another Democrat flipped a House seat, this one in Southern California in a deep red Reagan district, and the entirety of formerly deep red Orange County is now blue. Democrats flipped another House seat in Maine’s new ranked-balloting system. In Colorado, independent voters overwhelmingly cited Donald as the reason they voted Democrat.
And here in Texas, Democrats flipped four key judicial courts, moving from holding a majority in just three of 14 appeals court seats to holding half.
Amid all this—likely partly because of it—the White House is off the rails. Donald attacked Emmanuel Macron after the French president made pointed comments against the nationalism Donny espouses openly; then he had another major Twitter tantrum in his mounting fear of what Mueller’s investigation may be uncovering; and then he made another unhinged fact-free propaganda appearance, this one with the Daily Caller. Even first lady Melania Trump isn’t immune from a meltdown: her office issued a formal statement that Deputy National Security Adviser Mira Ricardel “no longer deserves the honor of serving in this White House.” And now reports have it that Donald is pathologically fearful over whether VP Mike Pence is loyal, not to mention his suggestion that insufficient raking of forests, not climate change, is the main cause of increasingly frequent and destructive forest fires like the two raging through Southern California.
Republicans Reconsidering
Two former McCain aides spoke out against their own party’s attempts to undermine the election in Arizona: “I ran @SenJohnMcCain political world for 10 years & can tell you what is going on in AZ is above board & by the rules,” one said. “The @NRSC & @SenCoryGardner are not only spreading lies & nutty theories, but undermining democracy.”
I ran @SenJohnMcCain political world for 10 years & can tell you what is going on in AZ is above board & by the rules. The @NRSC & @SenCoryGardner are not only spreading lies & nutty theories, but undermining democracy. @RepMcSally lost this race when she became Trump clone.
— John Weaver (@jwgop) November 11, 2018
GOP Senator Jeff Flake has said he will refuse to vote to confirm any of Donald’s judicial appointees unless Mitch McConnell finally allows a proposed bill protecting Mueller’s investigation to come to a vote on the Senate floor. Senator Lindsey Graham—usually Donny’s obsequious toady—also stated that he supports the bill.
Republicans against the law
A federal judge has ruled in favor of the First Amendment and ordered the White House to temporarily restore CNN reporter Jim Acosta’s credentials, after they revoked it and CNN sued the White House for violations of the First and Fifth Amendments—for infringing on freedom of the press and denying Acosta due process. Even FOX News supports CNN’s suit against the White House. “Secret Service passes for White House journalists should never be weaponized,” said network president Jay Wallace. Even FOX News.
The state of Maryland has asked a judge to declare Rod Rosenstein the acting attorney general, rather than Donald’s crony Matt Whitaker, who has already demonstrated previous bias against the Mueller investigation.
Meanwhile Whitaker is wading through the muck of his own making: being investigated for his role in an investment promotion scam; sticking taxpayers in Iowa for hundreds of thousands of dollars when he and his company walked away from a mismanaged apartment-rehabilitation project they’d been behind; and facing mounting calls to recuse himself from overseeing the Mueller investigation based on his overwhelming prior public antipathy toward Mueller and the investigation.
Betsy DeVos is being sued—again—for failing to cancel student debt from for-profit colleges that have been shut down, the ruling judge calling her delays “arbitrary and capricious.”
A federal judge found that Georgia’s former secretary of state Brian Kemp violated the Civil Right Act in rejecting ballots based on an omitted or incorrect birth year.
A federal judge ruled that a Neo-Nazi publication constitutes hate speech and not protected under the First Amendment.
Your Feel-good Stories of the Week
For the first time since women were admitted to the Special Forces training program in the army in 2016, a woman has made it past the initial training stage and could become the first female Green Beret.
Celine Dion has co-created a line of gender-neutral children’s clothing.
In what is believed to be the largest private donation to a university, Michael Bloomberg donated $1.8 billion to Johns Hopkins to make the university “need-blind,” aiding lower- and middle-income applicants by creating an admission system based on achievement regardless of ability to pay.
Texas GOP rep Dan Crenshaw, discussing his high-profile appearance on SNL last week to garner an apology from cast member Pete Davidson, explained his decision to appear on the show as an effort to promote civility and consideration.
Doctors issued a smackdown against the NRA after the strong-arm lobbying gun organization suggested doctors “stay in their lane” and not address gun violence.
This op-ed by Mitch McConnell exhorting bipartisanship was actually real, not an Onion spoof, and met with swift mockery on Twitter, where most of the tens of thousands of responses consisted of only two words: Merrick Garland.
Racist Rep Steve King, who just won reelection as the GOP senator from Iowa, dared the conservative publication the Weekly Standard to provide audio recordings of King calling immigrants “dirt,” denying he said it. The Standard happily produced the recordings, which proved he did.
Because people are awfully creative, this is a thing. Just in time for holiday gift giving!