The Long Road to the 2018 Midterms. Should I shoot myself now or later?

[RottingCorpse]

I stayed up to watch the Pennsylvania 18th Congressional race returns last night. Of course it's within 500 votes or whatever. Democrats are claiming a "moral victory" because Trump won it by 20 points in 2016. They're only hope is to win the House and the Senate and impeach the fuck out of Trump so we can spend the next thirty years trying to get Russian Cockroaches out of our kitchen.

Anyway, I need a job.

[nacho]

Just imagine if the Dems were a viable party with actual functional candidates!

[RottingCorpse]

I'm thinking of running for county supervisor just for a regular paycheck. That's how low the bar is for public office.

[nacho]

I'm thinking of running for county supervisor just for a regular paycheck. That's how low the bar is for public office.

I was thinking about county council!

[RottingCorpse]

We're not crazy enough! And we're both crazy!

[nacho]

We're not crazy enough! And we're both crazy!

Yeah. You know, when you think about that... Yeah. We are deeply fucked and evil. Yet, when it comes to politics, we're too straight narrow, and human.

[RottingCorpse]

It's the problem of U.S. politics. You have to possess certain pathology to want that job, even at the local level. It's so connected to your response to people around you that you become this thing that is always "on" and always on the hunt for opportunity, press, and money...

Then again, maybe it's not that different rom what we do. The difference is, we think all that groveling is bullshit and do it as a means to an end. The political people get corrupted by it.

[RottingCorpse]

Living in my rural compound makes it real easy to ignore politics, particularly midterms. Yet I find myself fascinated by this midterm. I don't know if the whole "the future of democracy" is on the ballot is anything more than a CNN marketing tool, but it feels like there are some real stakes here.

[nacho]

Living in my rural compound makes it real easy to ignore politics, particularly midterms. Yet I find myself fascinated by this midterm. I don't know if the whole "the future of democracy" is on the ballot is anything more than a CNN marketing tool, but it feels like there are some real stakes here.

So, today's view: Nothing's at stake. We're still at 50/50 or thereabouts. The Trumpnistas bombed, and Trump's anti Desantos shit failed.

What I find fascinating is the lack of a Red Wave. Traditionally, even in a normal America, that's what should have happened. Even in Crazy America, we should have seen some sort of noticeable Red Wave (or even a splash). The fact that it didn't happen really illustrates a deep problem with the GOP.

So, the Democrats suck balls and are hopeless and have no clear defense or offense. So it's not like the lack of a Red Wave is a good thing for the other side, but it does show that neither side is winning this polarization game. Okay, we've polarized. And we've done it (history alert!) the way it's always happened since the invention of democracy. And, in all that history, the only clear way out of the polarized democracy is....not fun if you're interested in stability and calm.

Other things of local interest: The ongoing purpling of Maryland. We got Wes Moore in the gov's chair, but looking at how the map swung Maryland is now the Balt-Wash corridor vs the rest of the state. That's quietly been going on for 20 years now and it looks like the transition is nearly complete.

[Nubbins]

Thing I wonder is, how much of the evaporated red wave was due to fuckwits who refused to get vaxxed and died? Also, doesn?t help them at all that they stoked distrust within their own base about early voting, mail-ins, and absentee, since that?s where the Dems rack up a lot of votes.

I cannot wait to see Trump?s (and the DOJ?s) moves over the next weeks, because I think shit?s about to get even more crazy. Trump?s presided over massive L?s for the GOP in the last three election cycles now, but he?ll probably announce a run for 2024 next week? all because he?s afraid of being indicted and thinks the DOJ won?t indict a potential candidate. Will also be interesting to see how the GOP tries to cut ties with him over the next few months, as if they haven?t been lapping at his prolapsed butthole since 2017.

[Nubbins]

Thing I wonder is, how much of the evaporated red wave was due to fuckwits who refused to get vaxxed and died? Also, doesn?t help them at all that they stoked distrust within their own base about early voting, mail-ins, and absentee, since that?s where the Dems rack up a lot of votes.

I cannot wait to see Trump?s (and the DOJ?s) moves over the next weeks, because I think shit?s about to get even more crazy. Trump?s presided over massive L?s for the GOP in the last three election cycles now, but he?ll probably announce a run for 2024 next week? all because he?s afraid of being indicted and thinks the DOJ won?t indict a potential candidate. Will also be interesting to see how the GOP tries to cut ties with him over the next few months, as if they haven?t been lapping at his prolapsed butthole since 2017.

Not sure why all my ? are ?, but there ya go.

Another thought? if the Dems don?t use this to shore up abortion rights and protect us from another January 6, there truly will be a red wave in 2024 I think. It?s go time, bitches. Better make the most of it.

[nacho]

So a little over a million people have died from COVID in the US over the last three years. We lose a million to heart disease and another million to cancer annually. Two diseases that also disproportionately plague the peasant red states. So far this year over 100,000 have died from fentanyl/opioid overdoses. Also disproportionately  impacting middle America.

Maybe all of that stuff has gotten together to eliminate the red staters. I certainly hope so!

Now let's factor in that, on average, only 40-50% of the registered voters actually vote, with our all time highs never reaching 70%. I don't think a death wave would really impact the vote unless we start to see, say, several million a year dying from an unexpected outside context thing like COVID. 

Another thought? if the Dems don?t use this to shore up abortion rights and protect us from another January 6, there truly will be a red wave in 2024 I think. It?s go time, bitches. Better make the most of it.

I'm confident they'll find a way to fail us like they always do. But at least the GOP is starting to think twice about their insane choices.

[RottingCorpse]

Now let's factor in that, on average, only 40-50% of the registered voters actually vote, with our all time highs never reaching 70%. I don't think a death wave would really impact the vote unless we start to see, say, several million a year dying from an unexpected outside context thing like COVID. 

As a guy who teaches at a college in a peasant red state, I can tell you that, here at least, the young folks sat it out. They hate all these candidates on both sides of the political spectrum. It seems to me that if either party would run somebody under the age of 50, they'd engage at least part of that constituency.

It'll be interesting indeed to see DOJ moves now that Trump and all his chosen ones are missing the dunks.

Desantis looks formidable in 2024, but it's way too early. He's making all the right moves in terms of engaging Trump's base while also (falsely?) convincing the rest of us he's not a batshit insane narcissist.