Mid-Terms: We’re All Out of Bubblegum
Finally. The day for which we’ve been waiting nearly two long years has arrived. We’re put to the test: who among us can see the threat and face it head on instead of hiding from reality?
Thanks much to those of you who’ve already voted, whether in early voting, absentee ballots, or at the polls this morning. You’ve passed the basic test of democracy.
Thanks in advance to those of you who will vote later today. Make sure you leave ample time to get to the polls. Be prepared to wait unless you’re one of the fortunate people who live in white GOP neighborhoods where there never seem to be too few booths or difficulty with polling locations. Do your homework about your ballot before you arrive at the polls.
Be prepared for bullshit, too, like Trumpsters’ barking dogs or ominous Border Patrol hovering around the neighborhood in El Paso conducting an oddly-timed crowd control exercise. Just ignore them and carry on. Stay in line until you’ve voted — the polls don’t stop until the last voter already in line at the time the polls close.
Check ACLU Voter website and enter your address for when to vote, where to vote, how incumbents rank on civil rights issues, and what key races are on your local ballot.
Speaking of which, there have been reports of polling locations “moved” without adequate advance notice — like California House district CA-22, where Devin Nunes defends his seat against candidate Andrew Janz. In this particular case the problem was the CA secretary of state’s website and appears to be fixed. Do allow extra time for hiccups like this. Contact your state’s secretary of state’s office to confirm your poll location if you have any doubts.
Know in advance what to do if poll workers say your name does not appear on the voter rolls, your voter registration is incomplete or not updated, or you’d asked for an absentee ballot but appeared at the polls instead — ask for a provisional or affidavit ballot to cast a vote. Visit the Brennan Center at this link for more information about what to do if you have problems at the polls.
If you experience any difficulty at the polls, contact Election Protection at 1-866-OUR-VOTE (1-866-687-8683) and ask for assistance. Take these numbers with you and help others who may experience problems but need help with language:
Spanish speakers: 888-VE-Y-VOTA
Asian languages: 888-API-VOTE
Arabic speakers: 844-YALLA-US
American Sign Language video call number: 301-818-8683
Or text OUR VOTE to 97779 for assistance.
If you’ve already voted but still feel up to helping GOTV, visit BuildTheWave.org and volunteer to text voters today. See Nate Lerner’s tweet for an overview.
If you want to help voters who are having problems at the polls, you can donate to the Lawyers’ Committee — they are the legal folks volunteering to answer phones, record complaints, and assist voters today.
Thanks for kicking ass and voting today. Treat this as an open thread with emphasis on election day news.
Hey Rayne! ALL!
For the last month, I’ve been writing on all of my mail postings: ‘VOTE’, as I don’t use cellphones. Here in Oregon we have mail in ballots. All last week and yesterday, I set up a make shift table offering to help the elderly complete the task of voting. I would read for them. I didn’t question anyone on w/whom they are aligned but offered support to us elderly in just getting that ballot in. We are a proud bunch of citizens: we VOTED!
This is the test. This moment/this hour/this day. I’ve literally been sick emotionally over all the shit happening. I might not be the smartest light but I am bright!!!!
Thanks Rayne for all that you do here. I’m so grateful for life. Ollie
I’m glad you were able to help folks exercise their right to vote. I probably don’t like how they voted but unlike Mitch McConnell who thinks voting is a privilege, I respect their right to do so.
Oh don’t be so sure about that Rayne. The Times They are A’Changin. Old and GOP are NOT mutually exclusive!
I mean we’re all pretty radical: we play serious BINGO, hahaha
https://youtu.be/e7qQ6_RV4VQ
You’re in Oregon — its history leaves me skeptical let alone recent Oregon news and current events.
Health care seems to be the one unifying field but Americans don’t agree on how we should obtain it.
Exactly right. Despite having long had pockets of progressivism, and its dominance in recent decades, Oregon has a considerable history of overt racism and intolerance.
The same is true for large pockets in Washington state. An artifact of the 1919 Seattle general strike was the reactionary violence in Centralia, 20 miles south of Olympia. An otherwise bucolic small town built on mines, railroads, lumbering, and religion, being a Wobblie there back then was a virtual death sentence.
Yes. See: Something’s Brewing in the Deep Red West in Rolling Stone of 10/23/18;
Thanks for that link, I couldn’t remember the title or outlet in order to pull that one up.
Good article from Rolling Stone. Eastern Washington state is as it describes: high plains, dry, rural, religious, and right – and very applely.
It’s also home to Native American reservations housing some of the poorest people in the state. They are not among arch-conservative Matt Shea’s favorite constituents.
…and that was written before this little piece of news: [Link here] 10/31/18
Spokane Valley representative under scrutiny for leaked manifesto
Spokane is considered the “liberal oasis” in the eastern half of Washington state. Tells you where it’s at.
i’ve read that the state of oregon’s founding constitution specifically forbade blacks from living in the state. this is a very curious addition to a state constitution.
and apparently that was the case:
https://oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/blacks_in_oregon/#.W-Oam6ROnMI
but at least it banned slavery, too – that was “fair and balanced” in 1857.
the current black population is under 2%.
to ollie: i am not interested at all in blacklisting oregon, nor do i want to disparage your contributions. i appreciate your effort.
i do want to raise the history issue. my state had, and still had, a lot less innocrence in its treatment of blacks.
Well Rayne……….our history is dark. KKK/homogenized…….. you name it. BUT…………But we’ve got DeFazio.. Merkley. I mean, seriously? what part of the ole’ USofA doesn’t have ilk in their past?
Yes Bundy. Yes Nike. Also? Lots and lots of transplants from CA and now we’ve got gobs of $$$ so many of us can’t afford rents, sky high property taxes BUT we don’t pump our own gas AND………..we have awesome natives.
Positive Positive Positive …..glad you agreed that it was good to help those elderly w/voting…….otherwise you’d be just like those slugs who could give a rats ass about our Republic. VOTE VOTE VOTE
Ollie, you’re right; Rayne, you’re too young. I went to a protest here in Alameda (SF Bay Area) about the kids in cages. The most pissed-off protestors were grandmothers dragging their grandkids. The loudest one, who wanted to block traffic, had white hair and was in a wheelchair being pushed by his equally elderly wife. Then I figured it out: these were the ’60s radicals back in the game and loving it. Do the math, how old are they now?
5-10 years older than me and I’m in my late 50s.
Sending you warm wishes and hopes for a Blue Wave tonight from the People’s Republic of Canuckistan! Two years ago some wicked elves came in the night and kidnapped the old Uncle Sam we used to know and respect and replaced him with an Ugly Changeling. Hoping Uncle Sam makes a big comeback tonight! Keep calm and vote on and on and on …
Thanks, eh!
“They live. We sleep.” was an advertising hook for that classic American political film. Time to wake up, as Spike Lee often reminds us in his films.
PS: The best climate change movie I’ve seen is Paul Schrader’s “First Reformed.”
PPS: Vote yes but do more than vote. Voting is not the be all and end of the do it yourself project that is democracy.
We have been fighting this civil war we’re in for the last 158 years and this election is not going to end it by a long shot no matter who gets congressional majorities. Having said that I believe that change is happening in ways that will make the old politics of triangulation, fear, corruption and legal coerced consensus obsolete. Governance by raw power is not over but there is a growing understanding that there are more of us good guys than there are bad guys and it ain’t hard to tell the difference anymore. Thank you EW, Rayne, bmaz and all the other professional citizens who make this place a sanctuary for rational thought without bullshit. Namaste
Voting is today’s job. Supporting the things you believe in is tomorrow’s.
Eoh, been there and done that and spent this morning phoning for turnout. How about you?
Big turnout around metro KC, and the only particular problems so far are the occasional machine malfunction. We have paper, fill-in-the-circle ballots that get inserted into a machine to be counted, and a couple of these machines refused to accept the ballots. These were either fixed or replaced in relatively short order, and about what one would expect given the number of precincts and machines. In one neighborhood, a contractor with a backhoe took out the power to 85 homes and two polling places, but this too was fixed fairly quickly. People could still vote (pens still mark paper without power), and when the power came back on, two non-partisan poll workers fed all the accumulated ballots into the machines. The lines, especially on the Missouri side where we have no early voting, have been long all day. In my precinct, I was able to get in and out in only 15 minutes in mid-afternoon, but according to one of the poll workers, that’s as short a wait as there has been all day, and they expect it to pick up a lot as folks get off of work.
In a neighboring MO county, the county election office has been sending out more paper ballots to every polling place because of heavy turnout, and also sent out some additional voting machines to certain precincts that are particularly busy.
I know, I know, but Chuckburger Todd having Peggy Noonan on for MTP daily’s election coverage is so wrong, I don’t know where to start.
peggy newman lives by sharp tongued criticisms aimed at and for the base of republican partyers. no one should ever ever forget that she said palin nailed it at the debate with biden. she loved the wink and the non answers. that is noonan. she goes with the flow but makes sure there’s plenty of mud in the water. chuck todd is a republican sympathizer. noonan was there to make him seem less so. he promotes false equivalences. it would be intellectual, physical and emotional torture for me to watch either. they are the fog machine on nbc.
Of course I voted, but here in California mine won’t change any officeholder. I didn’t give Feinstein my vote, but she’ll win anyway. I voted against the charter schooler for Education. Jared Huffman is already great and he’ll win.
More important that I voted on the propositions and a few local issues, which I did.
I voted, all Dems. There were a couple downballot I wasn’t enthusiastic about, but they’re still better than the Republicans. Also voted for a voting reform initiative, which doesn’t go far enough, but is a step in the right direction. Baby steps, but we’re not crawling anymore.
“A Russian billionaire who purchased a mansion from President Trump in 2008 in a business deal that is now being investigated by special counsel Robert Mueller was detained Tuesday in Monaco and questioned related to an ongoing corruption probe.” “Dmitri Rybolovlev, president of AS Monaco, was detained voluntarily by authorities in Monaco on Tuesday and is under investigation for charges of corruption and influence peddling according to French news service Le Monde.” Reddit has at least a dozen sources …….this is from the Hill. OMG! This is glorious!
The Financial Times, drawing on Le Monde’s reporting, has this nugget at the end of their story:
money laundering.
Looks like Indiana University at Bloomington ran out of ballots at the IMU a little more than a half hour ago:
The above tweet has been deleted so I am assuming poll workers got extra ballots and both food and water have been delivered to students in line.
This isn’t the only university with strong showing at the polls; I looked in on one of Michigan State’s polling place and it was packed. My eldest lives off campus and said their polling place was so busy earlier today that they had to try twice to vote.
I’m sure that the ballot proposal to legalize marijuana was a big part of Michigan’s mid-term strength but that doesn’t explain Indiana University Bloomington. I think we are looking at not only a blue wave or a pink wave but a youth wave. The future arrived and voted.
Great news. That is my sense too.
My other kid came home to vote, drove an hour and a half because he didn’t get an absentee ballot in time. Drove back already in order to cram for an exam.
Really motivated.
Good man. And good luck on that exam. Cramming is the best method anyway!
He’ll need all the luck he can get – he’s not doing very well at the intersection of biology and chemistry which is what the exam will be on. Perhaps he’s hedging his bet on a future in medical marijuana dispensaries by voting to legalize pot here. LOL
Ouch yeah that’s a nasty intersection however it’s paved (e.g. nutrition is one of the unsung biochem complexities of this world). But I have on my shades and am envisioning a bright hypothetical future, rendered possible by this one single vote. You never know!
Hmm. The entire Monroe county including Bloomington:
Looks like localized tsunami events.
I feel so bad for Georgians who have had to wait four or more hours in line in some locations thanks to that criminal asshat Brian Kemp. I hope in spite of all his efforts at suppressing voters he is kicked to the curb.
The liberal oasis Bloomington, home of Indiana University? The one comparable to Madison, Ann Arbor and Austin? That’s the county that ran short of ballots in arch-conservative southern Indiana. Who knew.
Yeah, yeah, save the snark. College towns don’t usually see this kind of voting for mid-terms. My own precinct which has been traditionally white/GOP was PACKED this evening, volume approaching general elections and not mid-terms.
Wow, I know that Abrams victory would be the one to heal the nation. FUCK YOU KEMP.
Thanks for the additional examples. It’s so hard to tell if my sense is localized, too, because the suppressors are busy at work elsewhere this year. Plus the different sense for those of us who have had to wait until today to vote…
In PA we have machines only (some few- generally upstate- precincts are machine with paper receipt). So it’s hard to ‘measure’ some of the tsunami effects until the data roll out…
More University news, from ABC News:
12:52 PM – 6 Nov 2018 Prairie View A&M University students walked out of class and marched to the polling station, chanting, “Go vote!” // Students there recently won a lawsuit allowing them to vote early and to vote at the student center on campus.
Students in Georgia:
5:06 PM – 6 Nov 2018 BREAKING: Georgia NAACP wins a lawsuit, and voting times will be extended by three hours in two precincts near Spelman and Morehouse. Polls will now close at 10:00pm per court orders.
Thank goodness. And for two HBCU, too, so important.
Students in Illinois [via @webradius]
5:03 PM – 6 Nov 2018 Poll watcher’s report: Keep in mind IL has same day registration, and Carbondale is a college town. So while lots of kids are registered, they have moved since then, meaning they have to (re)register at their new address to vote. / At 2 pm the line to (re)register was holding steady at about 25. Then it was 50. Then 100. When I left at 6:30 pm, there were about 200 kids in line to register and vote who were in the building and so will get to vote if they don’t run off. / […] <- Young black women turned up way out of proportion to their % of the student population. Young white women were a somewhat distant 2nd place. / And everyone else trailed well behind. // I have no idea how the election will turn out, but regardless the future looks bright.
Thanks, harpie- these reports are all adding up to a good outcome for democracy.
Our precinct was over 50% with at least three hours to go for polls to close. I’m basically a wellspring of excited energy. Hard to explain, but about the opposite of 2016’s quiet knowing pre-gloom.
I have to update my cleaning-up-the-polls story on the other page..it went well with some (shouldn’t have been) surprising turns.
ADD: and yes I feel awful about all of the voter suppression ongoing…but still hopeful.
It is fitting for this blog to note that our old pal Barbara Comstock was the first GOP incumbent to have lost his/her House seat.
It couldn’t have happened to a better person.
Absolutely.
Steve Kornacki has finally discovered the interactive tool for PAs new districts, from February. MSBNC coverage has been driving me nuts for weeks because SK has repeatedly talked about how, e.g., PA01 “behaved” in 2016 (went Hillary!) when the new PA01 is spatially really the old PA08 (Trump actually won). The tool tells you how the new districts would have behaved in 2016, had they existed.
I am complaining about this- admittedly, poorly- because: (1) he has been saying stuff that is opposite of true and could have altered vote turnout (if people act on such coverage); (2) I have no idea how many other states this affects, and would not be able to tell from the ‘news,’ and (3) they have to get it together by 2020 anyway, so just go with it.
Glad they are updating their coverage for tonight; wish they had not framed run-up coverage incorrectly, speaking of ‘enthusiasms’ and ‘surprises’ that don’t exist.
This is why I say avoid the election horse race news. These guys have the ability to sway voters and they don’t respect this power OR they abuse it.
Kornacki is horrible. Absolutely unwatchable.
I know, and I used to like the guy on CNN but I won’t tune CNN period at this point because of Jeff Zucker’s complicity in- well, active plotting of– the destruction of our country.
I hear ya.
Update: not long long after this comment, Kornacki/ MSNBC departed Accuracyville for the familiar terrain of bullshit misrepresentations, charts showing Rs winning ‘where HRC won’…BUT SHE DIDN’T, THEY CHANGED THE FUCKING DISTRICT NUMBERS/LOCATIONS, IT IS YOUR JOB TO KNOW THAT, AND THERE IS ALREADY AN EASY TOOL FOR YOU TO USE FOR SAME.
In KENTUCKY:
That’s absolutely FABULOUS.
lol I wonder if anyone remembered to put her on their bingo cards, we have so many “-ists” to keep track of…
Unfortunately McGrath lost (according to Raw Story).
I’m getting a pain in the pit of my stomach. PLEASE don’t be 2016 again.
Yeah, and
5:35 PM – 6 Nov 2018:
5:36 PM – 6 Nov 2018
ugh. Time for bourbon and pound cake.
Exactly how I feel, Trip…
Time for Bourbon and Pound Cake.
Dems losing senate seats, not looking good to pick up house majority at this point (at least from reading online), this is really…I can’t even articulate it, it’s too dark.
In LOUISIANA
[quote] 7:28 PM – 6 Nov 2018 Another BIG criminal justice reform measure looks like it’s passing — Louisiana’s amendment that requires an unanimous jury for a felony conviction. The nonunanimous jury rule is a shameful vestige of the state’s white supremacist roots. [end quote]
I’m watching the coverage on democracynow.org it’s very interesting and excellent … they reported that in Georgia, Kemp’s voter card malfunctioned when he voted (quickly fixed for him, but still… what a chaotic mess for who knows how many others who won’t be helped to straighten it out))
My daughter up at college is super motivated and has voted. My son, he cares very much and I know my daughter is on it and will help him find his way to the student center to vote… we have close gov race and a possibility of ousting Don Young after 40+ years of his ‘representation’ for Alaska.
Thanks Rayne and everybody!
This is a case where I endorse parental bossing/prodding of an adult child ;) Good luck with your races.
Thank you, my son did vote! Alas, we remain very red here in Alaska. :(((
I am quite happy for Michigan where I’m from originally, and many other good outcomes tonight!
Thanks for this community :)
Good News for Voting Rights out of Florida:
yeah that was a light among too much darkness. I was very happy about that.
Statistic:
If there are tweets still coming out of people holding their places in hours-long lines at closed polls: besides the food and water, *tell locals to bring beach towels for cover, toilet paper, and urinals (cheap plastic things from a drugstore, maybe even grocery store).
*tell, lol, if anyone has a twitter and wants to tweet this to the appropriate @s
Hopefully the next general will go more smoothy and I won’t have to start a Urinals to the Polls program.
From the NAACP, several hours ago:
Bizarro world:
Fox News made the early call on election night that Democrats had taken control of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Before any other network had hinted that Democrats had cross the threshold for taking control of the House, Fox News host Bret Baier broke the news that the network’s “Decision Desk” had made the call.~RS
I hope this is true.
Kansas comes through for the Dems!
Down goes Kris Kobach! (Cue the “millions of illegals voted” screed from the right)
Down goes Kevin Yoder, and in comes Sharice Davids – a lesbian Native American lawyer/former MMA fighter.
Wow, great news. Great.
Great news tonight. Tomorrow, OTOH, is another story.
From the KC Star:
My guess would be that Kobach lands a WH job that doesn’t require Senate confirmation.
Sigh, so much for briefly living in the extended present. And I bet your guess is correct. Easiest way to recycle Kobach into the corruption bin.
Ted Cruz won. The most hated guy in the GOP, even by the party. WTF is wrong with Texas?
Voter suppression combined with racism. Come on. You know this.
Does the house control make Mueller any safer? If not, can Schiff start shooting subpoenas everywhere?
Marcy retweeted:
Brian BeutlerVerified account @brianbeutler 46m46 minutes ago
Alana AbramsonVerified account @aabramson
HUH?!
Since that has an am timestamp, we can’t rule out that it’s just continued pre-election calmery. I’ll judge her when she is freer to speak and act.
Right now I’m mentally shot. I’m glad the Dems at least took the house. But I still hope Mueller drops a bomb tomorrow. The GOP keeping the senate with McConnell at the helm leaves plenty of room for insane fuckery. Democracy (small d) is still in great peril. The Democrats need to learn the game of hardball and fast, but balancing it with results so that they won’t lose more seats in the next election.
I understand- in 2016 I packed it in shortly after 9pm.
My overall sense now is that we have about the same number of problems (and solutions, via House majority) that were reasonably expected. So it’s not great, but better and not surprising.
For accuracy’s sake, this will be effectively never and only an infinitesimal nudge of post-election freedom. But the Committees will get to work regardless.
Her speech was ‘bipartisanship-bipartisanship-bipartisanship-bipartisanship’. I am not encouraged. That didn’t need to be the first fucking thing out of her mouth after the Republicans were, and are, determined to run gov’t as if there is no other party. This does not bode well.
I didn’t catch much of it, just heard something about healthcare (also separately saw chiron claim ~~Breaking: House Dems to Investigate Trump).
She does have to say some bipartisanshipy stuff because she has Dem Reps like Connor Lamb to curry. What ultimately happens is another question…
I know earl would have a better answer than my recapitulating hopeful calmyness, lol- I hear you, I am just trying to entertain the possibility that she’s not telegraphing a train wreck.
You know who I have noticed complaining the most about Pelosi tonight?
White men.
Get over it. The older woman and former Speaker understands that the House, which remains majority male, was freaking out during the Kavanaugh hearings as well as MeToo movement’s progress, and they’re twitchy about the change to come with at least 100 women in the House will bring.
Pelosi may be saying things that sound bipartisan but they’re really bi-gender. They’re designed to calm down a governing body which will see Financial Services committee chair Maxine Waters promptly rip into Trump’s tax returns which might make some GOP men really twitchy. Not to mention the political pressure which will slowly mount as Intel committee chair Schiff, Oversight committee chair Cummings, and Judiciary committee chair Nadler begin their investigations into all things corrupt and Trumpish.
And at the same time, somebody is going to have to rally a House majority behind legislation to undo Trump’s damage while ensuring it will coordinate with a counterpart bill in a GOP-controlled, male-dominated Senate.
Now tell me how a woman immediately launching a hyper-partisan approach before the 116th Congress has been sworn in would accomplish all this.
p.s. Speaking of twitchy, let’s not forget the recent attempted assassination by bombs, shall we? Should a good leader immediately set her team members up for attack by hyper-partisanship, or should she try a neutral approach until public sentiment has been persuaded to support their efforts? Food for thought.
This is a much better, more explicit comment than mine. I was thinking of general politicking, plus her role in the 45 media machine as ‘heel target.’ And how it had worked such that her fav. ratings tanked.
The bi-gendered part of this is crucial: great points, esp. in context of Kavanaugh and metoo wakes. Etc.
My point wasn’t that she should start a fight in her speech, @Rayne. She could have made inclusionary, positive commentary without the focus being ‘bipartisonship’ immediately, and with such frequency, as if that was the winning ingredient in the races. Maybe she was tired, maybe I was tired, but it seemed that she repeated it a lot. The audience clearly didn’t respond much at that point either. She did mention healthcare, pre-existing conditions, etc and other things the Dems actually ran on, which did receive excited applause. For me, hearing that repetitive ‘bipartisanship’ point, with such emphasis, was an echo, a bad feeling of the we’re “just moving forward” after the Bush era, where consequences were dismissed offhand.
spot on Trip
Well said, Trip. Assymetric polarization means bipartisanship is not an available solution. (I have no idea wtf gender has to do with any of this. I hated it as much when Obama did it.)
Meanwhile, POTUS has tweeted, loose translation, that the Senate is rubber and the House is glue, nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah. That’s as good an indicator as any how well bipartisanship will work.
How do the Reps keep their minions on board? By being sure to give them at least the illusion of victory as often as possible. The Dems, otoh, seem to rely almost exclusively on the radically unacceptable nature of the opposition to keep voters with nowhere else to go.
Extremely discouraging speech. If they don’t understand that we are in a constitutional crisis, then we are lost. Perhaps she’s playing the eleventy dimensional chess that made Obama so popular with his supporters.
Pelosi’s fundamental dilemma is that moneyed interests are running the show, so that politicians will not act on the will of we the people. Bipartisanship is just one way to make the decision process seem more benign. Our consolation is that we get to feel morally superior to the Republicans while getting our asses kicked.
Trip, I’m going to spare you this once because I’m really annoyed and super tired.
I want you to take the time to research impeachment and removal of the president and what that requires from the House and the Senate.
And then I want you to think very, very carefully about what it would take to make that happen before the 2020 election if you had to work with a cast of characters bigger than that of Game of Thrones running from a script written by monsters like the Kochs, Miller, Bannon, and Mercers.
I am also tired. And I understand what it takes. See another comment I posted, retweeted by Marcy about impeachment. Again, you’ve missed my point completely. I didn’t say she should start a fight or threaten anything. I only indicated that her hyperfocus on “bipartisanship” was not inspiring and that it was depressing from the standpoint of her historical actions. The Dems did not win campaigning on “bipartisanship”. Clearly, this message is being sent to Trump, not the constituency. Perhaps she has some grand plan of winning hearts and minds in the GOP or Trump, against all odds, against the long plotted obstructionism of the GOP, and blame game of Trump.
It would have been “nice” to avoid this type of capitulation language right after the election and instead focus on constituency of the US, instead of waving the white flag/truce to Republicans right away. That’s all I said. I’ll leave it there.
trip –
“The Dems did not win campaigning on “bipartisanship”.”
that’s true. check out the dems national strategy. it was to focus on economic issues, especially medical care. for one, medical bankruptcy is a large and growing problem for older adults in the u.s. you can’t go a week without seeing a story about somebody needing, e.g., $17k a month to survive cancer.
food stamps are a critical survival tool for some families but have been attacked by the ryan, meadows, mcconnell gang. the tax cut boondoogle left hyperwealthy americans and american corporations with embarrassingly less taxes to pay. the national debt is climbing and will climb astronomically over the next decade because of that tax cut. further, because of that tax cut, social security and medicare are already under attack by mcconnell. there will be time for a reckoning, but that is mueller’s job for now (and soon schiff’s job), not the job all house dems.
no part of the dems national strategy was to impeach trump; it would have been political suicide to do so. impeachment is disruptive and unproductive. given that we have a disruptive and unproductive president spewing chaos behind him, who needs dems who promise more of the same?
Have another take: https://twitter.com/alexandraerin/status/1060200887883362306
Hours later, bipartisanship takes on a different sheen after Trump commits a little more obstruction of justice by asking for Sessions’ resignation.
i am “rate limited” ? and thus not permitted to view :)
as long as bipartisanship is the verbal cover you described, i’m fine with it.
you can’t change your own plans for organizating one of those dem mobs just because trump wentvand did what every knowledgeable person expected him to do. but you will have to change your talk to show you are concerned.
right now, best approach is to attack both whitman and his appointment by trump, plus session’s confession he was forced to resign by trump, as coverup, coverup, coverup.
Is the Congressional Intel Committee able to investigate Nunes?
Just speaking hypothetically.
I would think the House Intel Committee would follow an investigation into Trump-Russia wherever it goes. ;-)
I emphatically agree with every word of this, Rayne.
1. I am a 67 year old white male, an independent that leans progressive, but very disappointed in the DEM party. I am bummed from FL.
2. I am THRILLED to see the significant number of women (D) elected as well as the (unclear to me) diversity in both the women and men elected. And entire city commission of LGBTQ was elected in Broward County – good for them.
3. I FIRMLY believe the human makeup of government should reflect the makeup of the population being governed along gender (even as an older white male – LGBTQ included), ethnic, whatever lines I may be leaving out.
4. I don’t think the fight to achieve 3. is anywhere near over and may have just started within the last few years with 6 Nov a hopefully significant point in time.
5. I realize that Nancy Pelosi is a master politico, fundraiser, etc. She deserves credit for what she has done.
But I am not certain the SHOULD be the next Speaker. Or if she is the next Speaker her close staff should include the future of progressives irrespective of party tenure.
I suppose what I am really asking, is how to best build upon this “toe hold” on a return to a degree of sanity that hopefully will lead to unity and less divisiveness. But even having said that, those that screwed up and Trump himself MUST be held to account. A HELL of a balancing act and I suspect things will get dicey before they get better. Cornered entities are usually nasty.
I can’t with your comment; I really should go calm down for a while though I won’t. I am so fed up with trying to explain the rules of the game they are bitching about and clearly don’t know.
It takes a simple majority in the House to impeach the president. We don’t yet have all the votes in to be absolutely certain there’s a Democratic majority — a mere 7 seat majority right now — let alone one in which every single Democratic member will vote to impeach.
It takes a 2/3rds majority in the Senate to convict and remove the president. Right now this would require a bipartisan agreement between a House which is still majority male, majority white, with a Senate which is also majority male, majority white.
I don’t think Hoyer or Clyburn are up to that challenge. There’s no newbie coming in possessed of the negotiating chops requisite to the task, let alone prepared to build a House team ready to take on 2020 and win. The House folks in between them will have their hands full with investigations and new legislative attempts likely to be stymied by the Senate, which need to be constructed in a way that will win support from the GOP-led Senate or will embarrass and shame the GOP Senate ahead of 2020.
I don’t know how the fuck white men think a woman assuming leadership of a majority white male organization can tell them she is going to attack white males and successfully remove them when she relies on white male participation to that end, let alone transfer a lifetime of institutional knowledge to the next generation of leaders at the same time.
All the while getting trashed by white men who are fucking clueless and complaining about divisiveness with one breath and whining about bipartisanship with the next.
I could really use a motherfucking drink right now but it’s not even noon here. *head desk*
Another perspective on Pelosi:
LOL That’s good. You notice how very quiet the elected GOP are about Pelosi? Like they don’t want to poke the bear, or they haven’t yet gotten their scripts for dealing with someone who told the public she was pursuing bipartisanship?
Yup. And anything that chaps their asses puts a big smile on my face.
She’s “the most demonized” because they’re the most AFRAID of her superior skills…it’s their Hillary playbook.
harpie –
you’re damned right about “superior skill”, but you know who’s a sucker for that kind of pelosi demonizing? certain dems!
the republican congressional campaign committee started the demonization of pelosi in the april, 2017 special election in ga to replace tom price. it caught fire with repubs – pelosi replaced clinton.
then, can you believe, it caught fire with some categories of dems. suckers!
thanks, rayne.
we need steady at the wheel right now. we need a pilot who knows the damn waters we’re going to be sailing thru. that’s pelosi as speaker.
the last person the republicans want to see as speaker of the house is nancy pelosi. that is almost certainly why trump said, perversely, he would like to see pelosi as speaker; he was trying to psyche put the dumber dems. will he succeed?
of course pelosi is going to talk bipartisanship right now. why be stupid and walk in with all guns blazing. there’s organizational matters and matters of strategy to hashed out first. this takes time. there’s 425 members in the congress; anybody ever try to control +-215 people at one time?
my guess, and my strategy, would be to highlight the very sly republican attack on the affordable care act, particularly on the “prior medical conditions” guarantee, by passing a protective act in the house, then let mcconnell choke on it, or call him on it if he ducks.
pelosi and her team will talk with folks, hear them out. let them know the leadership’s thinking. parience is the watchword right now.
Pennsylvania now goes from zero of 18 US reps as women to a bunch: Madeleine Dean, Mary Gay Scanlon, Chrissy Houlahan, and Susan Wild so far. All Dems. Not all results in…
Looks like four total. While not representative, it’s a huge improvement.
Beto “So fucking proud of you” to supporters/campaigners in concession speech.
I could listen to Beto all day. He’s even more inspiring than ’08 Obama- the times and stakes are more grave now.
Yeah, the guy seems genuine, which is rare.
I believe Beto will continue to be a force for good in our country.
Tonight is mildly disappointing but flipping the House is still a big deal. The president can no longer count on those committee gavels protecting him—something he’ll probably learn the hard way after going unchecked for so long.
It will be interesting to see how the party’s first real loss under Trump affects them. The fur is already flying between Ryan and Trump over who is responsible, according to CNN.
https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/election-day-2018/h_1f72d8a9a7f66b78de088810cf4c33a1
wrt: Committee Gavels:
That’s great. M4A is my number one priority even though we’re still a few years away. It will happen—the only question is how long will conservatives tar it as “socialism” even though it’s the most fiscally conservative solution?
Dems finally take over NY State Senate, crushing repubs and repub-wannabe IDC (so-called Dems who caucused with repubs), so NY turns deep blue, along with blue Assembly and corrupt Cuomo.
Menendez is called- kept NJ Senate seat (as did Bob Casey PA as expected)
“Little Adam Schiff, who is desperate to run for higher office, is one of the biggest liars and leakers in Washington, right up there with Comey, Warner, Brennan and Clapper! Adam leaves closed committee hearings to illegally leak confidential information. Must be stopped!”
Oh shit!!
TRUMP TWEETS DAILY:
Erin Biba on Twitter: “Chairwoman of the House Science Committe – Eddie Bernice Johnson, the first registered nurse in congress. This will be a first time in a decade that the committee isn’t run by climate deniers.…”
https://twitter.com/erinbiba/status/1060071879145410560
and a bonus lol:
Imani Gandy’d Yams 🍁🍁 on Twitter: “M*GA Twitter is losing its collective shit over Maxine Waters chairing the Financial Services Committee. lol”
https://twitter.com/AngryBlackLady/status/1060048905633652736
:-) :-) :-) :-)
Gerrymandering probably kept dems from winning another ten seats, at least.
This is not a democracy
Exit polls show 40% of the country wants Trump impeached. The Mueller evidence isn’t even public yet
And voter suppression and purges in Georgia. That’s one state where they (Kemp) didn’t even bother covering up such a repugnant strategy. Dirty disenfranchisement for victory.
YEAH! Scott Walker is OUT! Good news!
Women are filling more seats ever! YEAH!
All the rest is shit. Abrams is hanging in there until absentee ballots are counted. I wanted so much more victory. What the fuck is wrong w/my fellow citizens? Quien sabe
Not all the rest. It hurts to lose Florida, but voting rights won there and that puts another million votes into play. Now the Dems just have to go out and get them. The NC legislature failed to go blue, but they broke the GOP supermajority and now gerrymandering is breaking up there. There are hopeful signs on the state and local levels, so while Trump and McConnell can still do awful things, I see opportunity and hope that wasn’t there at this point two years ago. Dems are still seriously wounded, but there’s healing going on.
It’s going to be a hard, hard two years, and good guys just have to accept that the big money and the racists are going to be fighting hard. We’ll see how it goes.
Cable news, especially CNN, but including MSNBC, (forget about the propaganda channel), need to stop airing Trump’s constant campaigning, which is all Trump does. They gave a HUGE assist to the fearmongering, hate-filled drumbeat. Trump should almost never be covered live. Further, his propaganda is repeated ad nauseam, as talking heads ‘discuss’. Much of what Trump says is deceitful, distracting, inciting, and not worthy of coverage. This will begin in earnest again, almost immediately. If they continue on the same path, it’s time to boycott sponsors.
I’m having trouble finding advertisers for MTP Daily, but here are sponsors of the weekly Meet The Press: http://www.sponsorfeedback.com/advertisers?view=show&show_id=113
If this page is accurate, Exxon Mobile, BP, Boeing, Dow Chemical and Koch, among others, pay for the show. It puts the show’s slant in some perspective.
BTW: FAA Urges Airlines to Follow Boeing’s Advice After 189 People Killed in 737 MAX Crash … false readings from a plane sensor that authorities say occurred on a 737 MAX jet that crashed off the Indonesian coast last week. Boeing said in a statement posted to Twitter, and tells flight crews to use existing guidelines when dealing with erroneous inputs from the so-called angle of attack sensor. That sensor is intended to maintain air flow over a plane’s wings but if it malfunctions it can cause the plane’s computers to erroneously think it is in a aerodynamic stall — which can then cause aircraft to abruptly dive.~Bloomberg
After 8 years of Hastert rule stonewalling in the House what legislation, like immigration reform, will get through the next two years?
Stupid narrative, at least shallow and really propaganda. Just another example of keeping things fair and balanced, both sides, etc. Numbers wise we saw a historic repudiation of Trump, this in the face of an extensive anti-democratic structure with often blatant cheating as well as heavy propaganda normalizing Trump. The popular will likely will not translate to power because the GOP (Putin?) have done an excellent job controlling pressure points by subverting democracy, notably the SC and the Senate, where 70% of the Senate is elected by 30% of the country.
Point being, let’s not indulge blaming the stupidity, racism, and such of our fellow citizens. The problem we face is ruthless, effective undermining of democratic and legal institutions so that enough people are propagandized effectively enough that a minority of wealthy thugs exercise immense power.
There is no problem with how people are voting. If we had a democracy, we would be fixing things.
I dunno. And I am sorry, but I have a real problem with the stupidity, racism and flat out ignorance you are blithely willing to shine on. And think I will apportion blame appropriately. But thanks for the admonishment.
Heh. What is this “blithe” of which you speak?
My basic point is that propaganda works. Therefore, it is strategically unhelpful to blame people for being manipulated by propaganda. We are all much stupider than we think, meaning we think we are being rational when in fact our emotions are driving our thinking. There’s plenty of evidence for this. We will never be able to stop people from being manipulated by propaganda by becoming smarter or morally improved. It. will. never. happen. Blaming folks for their human flaws is not a winning strategy. We need to focus on the structural issues and applied wealth that have created the propaganda.
How we fell about the idiots is another matter entirely, one on which we are likely in close agreement.
I think I was quite clear. And who are “we”?
You were indeed clear, and more civil than I’ve ever seen. Made me a little nervous with the politeness.
“Whaddya mean ‘we’, paleface”? How about well-intentioned people with social conscious, concern for the common welfare, and whatever it is that makes “us” able to see propaganda for what it is? Those with what Hemingway called a bullshit detector? How about anyone who can read this website with comprehension?
I like to think we have both been clear.
Quoting:
So you are saying that your cousin (in your 1147am reply to Rayne) is an idiot?
Jeezum. Word twisting is a game that can go on to infinity. Since you’re interested (I’m sure you’re not just giving shit for no good reason), I’m saying there are idiots and there are real racists. Most of the people in the south being hated on are neither. My cousin is, in fact, brilliant. More than that, I’m saying that personal feelings are one thing and political strategy is another thing altogether. When my cousin starts talking about Muslims, she does sound like an idiot, but I know she’s not.
This is my experience on this site today. I suggested it might be best not to blame victims of propaganda, not to think everyone supporting a racist president is in fact a racist. The response is pretty much, “We’ll shame and hate whoever we damn well please.” This is not really a discussion.
I suggested that last night’s election results indicate that ballot initiatives could be an effective strategy, particularly with respect to gerrymandering. The response is first that that won’t work because you would need Democratic majorities in the states to make that work, then that there are “only” 26 states which allow initiatives. Um, well shit, I guess that’s a terrible idea, too.
I and others were critical of Pelosi’s comments, and I learn that this is only because I’m a white male. Reminds me of when I didn’t like Obama’s bipartisanship crap and was called a racist.
I made suggestions about what I would hope “we” can do, and I get a “Who is this ‘we’ you are talking about”? Clearly the main commenters on this site are quite satisfied with themselves and are not in need of any help from anyone. Clearly there is nothing that needs to be learned from other thoughtful citizens with similar objectives but at times a variant outlook. So, since you’ve all got it so well covered and all figured out, I’ll be moving on.
Good luck
Point being, let’s not indulge blaming the stupidity, racism, and such of our fellow citizens. …
** 76% of white women voted for Kemp in Georgia. **
I will goddamn well point out their stupid, blind, internally oppressive racism any time I want to. As long as we don’t talk about their goddamn racism, it will not only continue but grow worse. It needs to be dragged out into the sunlight and humiliated until it is shamed out of existence.
Fuck civility. Anybody asking me to shut up and make nice with uncivil people who want me or other humans of color dead isn’t being civil.
And I don’t know why people are so goddamn clueless about the failures of this particular democratic system: they’re failures of racism. Predominantly white precincts voting for white candidates weren’t standing 4-plus hours to vote yesterday, nor were they forced to create street addresses out of thin air, documented by tribal authorities. Catch the cluestick.
Rayne is right.
I’m having trouble reconciling your straight talk here with your applauding Pelosi’s mealy mouth performance, but that is a different question, I guess.
I’m not talking about civility or being kind. I’m talking about strategies that have a prayer in hell of working. Any strategy that starts with the assumption that “we” are morally superior to “them” is a strategy that embraces force as the ultimate arbiter, a strategy that suggests that because we are morally superior and understand things better, we should be the ones to have the power to tell them how to behave. That attitude looks to me like a mirror image of how the “racists” think of you liberals.
I grew up in Georgia. I grew up close and personal with racism. I go back enough to have a good sense of the social tragedy that has unfolded down there. My first cousin is a good case in point. She’s one of the most moral people I know, one of the sweetest, most well-intentioned people. She is deeply religious but not idiotically so; it is an applied morality that she feels in her soul and tries to live daily. Her life has been a life of service. She treats her African American students with utmost respect and even love. She is blind to the seemingly racist nature of her politics. To take one example, she struggles with her hatred of Muslims. She tries to work with this hatred out of an intuitive sense that it is out of touch with her commitment to love. But she believes as a fact that Muslims are rapists by nature and other absurd propagandistic beliefs. Lecturing this woman self-righteously about how she needs to be a better person is a hopeless proposition, doomed to failure, but worse yet, disrespectful of her basic dignity as a human as well as her well-intentioned spirit. She is a victim of propaganda and is not the evil person you would imagine her to be.
More to the point, everyone of us has flaws which are exploitable. We can all of us be made to believe things that aren’t true, can have our fear and anger exploited for political ends. It is not so that individually, self-empowered racists have, in a grassroots way, given rise to racist politics and therefore are responsible for what we are seeing. No. This is a top-down problem. Confusing chaos and polarization created by propaganda appealing to the basest aspects of human nature is not to understand the nature of power and manipulation. Blame the Russians and wealthy distractors who bought the media and worked very hard to create this situation. Do not imagine yourself superior to them. And btw, they feel themselves to be superior to you in exactly the same way. It’s called polarization and its deadly.
To be clear, I can scarcely stand to go back to my home town. It is actually a bit frightening at times. But I do not blame those I went to high school with for their absurd beliefs and views. As a final point I’ll mention that groupthink in the south makes then particularly susceptible to manipulation.
doc –
yes, yes, yes. you’ve put your “i know racism” bonafides on display. so what.
what a blowhard you are.
Ha. Blowhard, is it? Wow. You couldn’t be more wrong. I’ll refer you to my reply to Eureka above, read before seeing this piling on.
We’re a nation of children, indulging childish fights. We’re a nation of bullies as well.
And you, Orion, are a name-caller. Grow up and learn to discuss ideas with respect.
doc –
your last two paragraphs are foolish nonsense.
voters are citizens. citizens have a responsibility, their major responsibility, to be knowledgeable and wise, is reflected in their voting. many trump voters are neither; they are fans, fanatics, of president trump. they do not listen to criticism. they show no interest in effective goovernment. they are just fans. otherwise they would oppose attacks on clean water and clean air, dissolution of nuclear armaments treaties, attacks on the dept of mustice and the fbi specifically for the purpose of keeping collaboration with russians in the 2016 election a secret, attacks on the affordable care act, an unaffordable tax reduction bill mandated by rich republican donors.
these folks have a responsibility they have failed to meet; they are failed citizens, as trump is a failed president.
nothing demonstrates what foolish nonsense your comment about not blaming voters is than a careful look at the effect of money-driven teevee voting ad campaigns. there is virtually no political campaign that cannot be swayed toward one party or another with an infusion of cash for those “negative political ads”, those ads that voters profess to hate and nonertheless watch and then use as the basis for their vote. those folks “have agency” as the saying goes. they are responsible for what they believe and how they vote. they have an obligation to use their critical thinking skills.
I’m sorry, but I’m not reading those last few comments. I’m not reading the other responses either. Perhaps it’s my loss and an actual discussion is taking place. If so, my bad. Forgive me for not reading your responses.
I just want to say to you, for the sake of feedback, on the grounds that how we treat one another on the internet matters (as Russia has proved definitively), I want to tell you how wrong are your assumptions about me and how misguided are your responses to me. You called me a blowhard. I am one of the quietest, most gentle people you would ever meet. I do not feel preachy ever, and I certainly don’t pretend to have all the answers. I feel it is important to make common cause with like-minded people against what I perceive as an existential threat. I feel we have a duty to work together to achieve a coherent vision of what is true in our lives against an assault of lies from many directions. I offer my comments in a spirit of helpfulness and mutuality, even when I am disagreeing. I am a naval academy graduate who became a conscientious objector. In my private life and in public life I am committed to peaceful interactions and peaceful solutions. I try to treat everyone I meet with respect–this is a personal commitment. I like to think I have done the same here. You are wrong in the way you think of me, in the way you interpret my comments, and in the ways you assume to know who I am, having never met me in my life and only having read a few of my remarks. You are wrong to be so insulting.
I’m not sure why people can’t just read a comment they disagree with and record their disagreement, then move on. I don’t get the need to bully and insult. Content aside, the tone of discourse is pretty discouraging.
I do wish everyone the best. I hope we’re not as screwed as I fear we are. After this one little trial back, I can assure you I will not be participating further in online discussion. I’ll be focusing on the immediate and the local.
Thanks to people especially for the often hilarious comments. I still sing Rusharuse’s Way Out West song about lyin’ Trump in my head at times, and it brings a smile.
you’ve convinced me, doc – you are a really great person.i think it was the piety in your description of yourself that did it.
as for your declaration: “After this one little trial back, I can assure you I will not be participating further in online discussion. I’ll be focusing on the immediate and the local.”
you promised that once before.
best of luck in your future endevors.
Full disclosure: I think democracy is screwed because the power has shifted irretrievably to the crooks and liars. Still, it’s good to keep hope alive. In that spirit, one bright spot I have not seen mentioned here is the passing of Michigan Proposal 2:
This needs to become a national movement. It also seems that we will have a chance to dismantle the obscene gerrymandering in NC.
The problem with a national anti-gerrymandering campaign is that it will only have success in states where Democrats can get the majority, meaning it will tend to benefit Republicans. This is something we really need to do at a federal level, but it isn’t going to happen.
That’s not to say that it can’t be a benefit in states like Michigan which are already heavily gerrymandered by Republicans.
I’m thinking of ballot initiatives which would have the force of law irrespective of which party is in power, Which would rely on an honest judiciary but seems to me not necessarily to depend on Democratic legislative control. Perhaps I am wrong about that, and there will be ways of dodging such attempts.
Only 26 states even have ballot measures, most of those in the Western half of the country.
https://ballotpedia.org/States_with_initiative_or_referendum
Okay, there’s a limit. But there are 26 states to work on. Lester Spence makes the same point in the tweet linked by Trip below. Presumably racist Florida reenfranchised felons and Michigan got rid of gerrymandering, both major victories for democracy.
Here’s a good take, which makes me infinitely more positive (thread):
https://twitter.com/LesterSpence/status/1060147394602508289
Outstanding, and much better said than my attempts upthread. Thank you.
Trump and McConnell must be scared shitless about a Pelosi-led House investigating the Grifter-in-Chief. It’s their first argument out of the box.
McConnell now claims that Congress performing its constitutionally-mandated oversight of the executive branch would be “presidential harassment.” Sounds like he knows the Don has something to hide – and he’s determined to help him hide it. Is that obstruction or does it make him an accessory.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2018/nov/07/midterm-elections-democrats-trump-republicans-house-latest-live
Is that you behind those foster grants?
The schoolyard presidential tweet, and now McConnell’s petty statement–how far has public discourse fallen. “There must be no investigation of our crimes” is a stunning response to a democratic election.
The propaganda begins.
There aren’t legit investigations to be had, but “harassment” instead. The victimization narrative is going to be ramped up. Negotiations with Dems will be handily used for scapegoating of any Trump failures. The 2020 campaign is in full force.
What we can take out of it, at least, is the admission by McConnell that the GOP embarked on long term campaigns of harassment against opponents.
In MONTANA
Lester Spence’s thread was very much needed and welcomed this morning! Another point to remember is that many 16 year old students who are clued in to the very precarious situation of the world’s environment, and are also very sensitive to protecting the rights to all human beings; will be old enough to vote in the 2020 elections. Another positive note is that this was the 1st election in recent time where 54% of independents voted for Dem. candidates.
The 2020 Senate elections will also be a much more favorable terrain for the Dems. candidates.
We must put better pressure on the news outlets to continue to carry the important stories such as about all of the kids that are still separated from their parents instead of following Trump’s lead on the harmless caravan that is 800 miles away. The white bomber’s van in Florida was so much more harmful than 7,000 men, women and children walking 1,000 miles for a safer and better chance at life.
Stay positive!! Good things did happen yesterday and more will come over the next 2 years with everyone’s efforts to advocate and take care of people they know and those they have not yet met.
Brian Kemp’s lead for Georgia governor may be smaller than the number of voters he suppressed
https://thinkprogress.org/brian-kemps-lead-for-georgia-governor-may-be-smaller-than-the-number-of-voters-he-suppressed-8abe16594f0e/
Jim (the acosta) – a cheeky cheeky boy!
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/trump-yells-at-jim-acosta
Pissy Presidential Presser:
Stanley Cohen@StanleyCohenLaw
This is an awesome thread that Marcy retweeted:
SESSIONS resigns:
WSJ: “… at Trump’s request”
https://twitter.com/rebeccaballhaus/status/1060257393475510273
Daniel Dale:
11:52 AM – 7 Nov 2018 VERY important: Sessions’s temporary replacement, Matthew Whitaker, is a GOP partisan who wrote a CNN op-ed last year saying the Mueller investigation was going too far and that Rosenstein should order Mueller to limit it: / Whitaker, who will likely now be in charge of the Mueller investigation, was hired by Sessions a month after he published this CNN op-ed criticizing Mueller and saying the probe should be curtailed.
Marcy:
Marcy, again:
>>> If Trump Fires Mueller How a Democratic-controlled House can salvage the Russia investigation 10/30/18
https://newrepublic.com/article/151929/trump-fires-mueller
Trump announces by Tweet:
Cornyn on board
Jerry Nadler challenges: