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The GQP: Trumpist Death Cult


Hugo Stiglitz

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1 hour ago, Brisketexan said:

Understand that it is the party of fascist authoritarianism, steeped in insane conspiracy theories and openly antagonistic to any objective truths. 

The interesting part to me is I don't think the goal was necessarily fascist authoritarianism when it began to take this swing, but it naturally got there.  Now there are no other options for them.

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2 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

The interesting part to me is I don't think the goal was necessarily fascist authoritarianism when it began to take this swing, but it naturally got there.  Now there are no other options for them.

The problem the GQP has with Trump is the problem Gerhard Schröder has with Russia/Putin which is the same problem ANYONE has when they get in bed with the mob.  It's easy to opt in to the scheme.  But once you do, it's impossible to get out.

The sole pivot point in the entire story is right at the beginning -- the choice to join, or not join, a crime family.  If you choose not to, then any number of paths remain available to you.  But if you join, it always and only ends one way -- you're all-in, and as the crime family goes, you go.  You can't be "kinda in the mafia."

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2 minutes ago, Sbbruin said:

Yes.

My congressman is Levin, but, if I were in your position, I'd be sure and let Ms. Chu know that you've bailed out on the GOP, and why.    Be sure and mention if you've donated to GOP candidates in the past.  

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11 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

The problem the GQP has with Trump is the problem Gerhard Schröder has with Russia/Putin which is the same problem ANYONE has when they get in bed with the mob.  It's easy to opt in to the scheme.  But once you do, it's impossible to get out.

The sole pivot point in the entire story is right at the beginning -- the choice to join, or not join, a crime family.  If you choose not to, then any number of paths remain available to you.  But if you join, it always and only ends one way -- you're all-in, and as the crime family goes, you go.  You can't be "kinda in the mafia."


 

image.gif.6c8a484b3ab3a9ed2f87e9be94d72949.gif

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25 minutes ago, Pancho said:

So why are racist, radical republicans (RRRs) upset now that Biden is considering cancelling student debt?  Why do those people care about this? 

Because they either 1) got their college paid for by their rich families, or 2) didn't go to college. 

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3 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

 

I'll take the little steps first.  What Sbbruin did is a very important start.  America has to first turn away from fascist authoritarianism.  THEN, individuals can figure out how best to fight against it.

It's kind of like "first, do no harm."  You do that by no longer voting for GQP candidates.

I have not changed my registration.  Mostly because I am lazy.  But, in keeping with this idea, there may be some utility in voting in R primaries in the not too distant future.  Maybe.

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9 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

I have not changed my registration.  Mostly because I am lazy.  But, in keeping with this idea, there may be some utility in voting in R primaries in the not too distant future.  Maybe.

You are an optimistic dreamer, and I love that about you.

But no.  There is no dissenting wing of the GQP.  The "dissenting wing of the GQP" is about as meaningful and effective as the "anti-war element of the Putin government."  In both cases, the apparatus is all-in on being an integral part of a deranged criminal gang what will obey zero norms or standards.  You can keep hoping it will get better.  But you're wasting your time.

Every second not spent fighting to destroy and discredit the GQP is a wasted one.

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NSIAP. This article fills in some of the gaps. The new right ain't all maroons, the Leni Riefenstahls are represented, too. Now I know where irony went, though I never knew irony and grievance were bedmates.

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/04/inside-the-new-right-where-peter-thiel-is-placing-his-biggest-bets?mbid=social_twitter&utm_social-type=owned&utm_brand=vf&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter

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I take solace that when one of you fuckers calls me out for being a dumbass I can rest easy knowing that at least I was never dumb enough to register as a Republican.

My parents taught me to see through all that bullshit from a very early age.  Sorry y'all weren't raised properly.  Do better with your kids.

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1 hour ago, Willfully Horn said:

NSIAP. This article fills in some of the gaps. The new right ain't all maroons, the Leni Riefenstahls are represented, too. Now I know where irony went, though I never knew irony and grievance were bedmates.

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/04/inside-the-new-right-where-peter-thiel-is-placing-his-biggest-bets?mbid=social_twitter&utm_social-type=owned&utm_brand=vf&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter

There was no hit on Surly search for Curtis Yarvin. Link posted under the principle of “know your enemy.” Fuck you, Curtis Yarvin. Wrap your arms around the color black and the nunber zero and die in the sane fire as Putin.

There’s way too much to unpack, and I need to focus on work. But, here is a quote from a titular philosopher of the “deep right:”

The deep right knows that all government is absolute. Because of this, the deep right is only interested in paths to absolute power.”

What a hypocritical fuckstick. They’ve abandoned Law and want to invoke absolute? Power is the only absolute, that is the gist of your damnable beliefs. God is the absolute. You're not Him.

https://graymirror.substack.com/p/principles-of-the-deep-right?s=r

 

 

 

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8 hours ago, Sbbruin said:

After 37 years as a registered Republican (but who did not vote for Trump in '16 or '20- first time ever not voting R), I just re-registered as an independent.  Can no longer have even the loosest affiliation with this madness.

gary-johnson-no.gif

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As I have told every person I know who supports this dishonest shit, darken my door and you will never walk without a cane.
 

If you impair my children’s mobility, rest assured I will impair your mobility. At my door, at least. Wholesale overthrow of the nation will impair my children. And that is my beef with R chumps, like @Johnny Sack, and @fattyflattie and @muledick, who, ironically, are guided by former libs. Shitbirds like Curtis Yarvin. Who writes:

Reflections on the late election

President-elect Biden is a Machiavellian's dream—especially the way it happened.

Nov 8, 2020
 
227
75
 
 

Though I did not put this in writing, not from responsibility but just out of cowardice, I did go around telling people IRL that my preferred outcome was “it looks like Trump wins, then it looks like Biden steals it from him.”

Some mistook this for an “accelerationist” stance. It was only Machiavellian. I would also tell Trumpists that I was “so pro-Trump, I wrap all the way around to pro-Biden.” This did not raise many hackles and was also quite true.

In any case I am delighted to hail, perhaps prematurely but I doubt it, the election of this elder statesman, this American Nestor, always a bridesmaid and now a bride, “China” Joe Biden. If the big guy ever needs to pull an Augustus, he knows who to call. 

(President-elect Biden has in fact kissed my own mother, not in a sexual way I think. My stepfather, a former Biden staffer from the ‘80s, is a gentleman of honor. So I hear only good things about America’s new cynosure. His teeth sure are looking great.)

Elections have consequences

It is useless to speculate on the details of a Philadelphia election. One need only say the words, “Philadelphia election,” and anyone on or near the grave of Mark Twain will experience a little earthquake. Has Philadelphia ever had a free and fair election?  (This country, for what it is, takes itself too seriously. Have you ever considered the possibility that America has always been a joke? I’m sure most historians have.)

The fundamental purpose of a democratic election is to test the strength of the sides in a civil conflict, without anyone actually getting hurt. The majority wins because the strongest side would win. Better to measure that by counting heads, than knocking heads; and counting heads produces a reasonable guess as to who would win a head-knocking contest. Same outcome, fewer concussions: a Pareto optimization.

But this guess is much better if it actually measures humans who are both willing and able to walk down the street and show up. Anyone who cannot show up at the booth is unlikely to show up for the civil war. This is one of many reasons that an in-person election is a more accurate election. (If voters could be qualified by physique, it would be even more accurate.)

My sense is that in many urban communities, voting by proxy in some sense is the norm. The people whose names are on the ballots really exist; and almost all of them actually did support China Joe. Or at least, preferred him. The extent to which they perform any tangible political action, including physically going to the booth, is very low; so is their engagement with the political system. They do not watch much CNN. The demand for records of their engagement is very high, because each such datum cancels out some huge, heavily-armed redneck with a bass boat. This is why, in the data, these cities look politics-obsessed, but photos of the polling places look empty. Most votes from these communities are in some sense “organized.”

Whether or not such a design constitutes “fraud” is the judge’s de gustibus. That is really no concern of ours. All we need to know is that whatever incubus sparked the divine wind that early on that dark, fateful morning struck so many swing cities, first pausing the dutiful clerks, then lifting up China Joe like Bilbo saved by the eagles, the noble and venerable American judiciary seems unlikely to want to look closely at it.

On behalf of the short-fingered vulgarian? In just a couple of months, he will be on the phone with his lawyers. For the rest of his life. No one will ever forget what he did here. No one will ever forget anyone who even tried to work with him. If someone shot him on Fifth Avenue, they’d get a ticket for unlawful discharge of a firearm. And when he does go to jail, it will not be for being strong, but for being weak.

Does he have an alternative? Sure. But he’s not going to like it. Nor will most people.

The irrational fear of power

Progressives see power as an end; conservatives see power as a means to an end. As soon as conservatives get even a sliver of power, they start trying to use this power to create good outcomes. This is irrational. 

The rational way to use power is the progressive way: to make more power. Your power grows exponentially. Eventually you have all the power, and can get all the outcomes you want.  

There is not one progressive idea which does not yield a power dividend. I cannot think of a conservative idea that does. If one did, the progressives would steal it. Then the conservatives would persuade themselves to oppose it, and all would be well.

This is not a coincidence. The great flaw of the American right is that, besides not being able to get any real power, they do not want any real power, and have no idea what they would do with any real power.

As I write, the path remains entirely open for Republicans, if they can operate as a coherent unit, to take all the power they want. They cannot, and they will not. Their fault is not in their stars, but themselves. 

How? Simple: they just need to legally assume absolute power, then use it absolutely. This would have been literally trivial four years ago, when Republicans controlled all three constitutional branches. Now it would take a constitutional hack to even get the Presidency back, and a couple more to reach real power. Let’s walk through the steps. (Content warning: this “very legal coup” will not actually happen.)

A very legal coup

First, Republican state legislators would have to declare the ballots flawed and seat their own electors, effectively stealing the election back. They could do this trivially, legally, today. They could call it the “Very Cool And Very Legal Act” (VCAVLA).

Second, to govern unilaterally without the Congress, the President would have to assert his unconditional constitutional authority over the executive branch. This is clearly stated in Article II: again, very cool and very legal. As for the so-called “power of the purse,” it doesn’t mean much against the power of the Fed. Since the Federal Reserve is part of the executive branch, who needs a Congressional appropriation? Lol owned.

Third, lacking a perfectly loyal Supreme Court, the President would have to point out the fallacious, ahistorical and illogical quality of Marbury v. Madison, and assert the independent and coequal status of the executive branch. Judicial supremacy is a completely apocryphal invention of Justice Marshall, created for his own random political reasons. Very cool. And very illegal, so screw that guy.

The President is always happy to hear the resolutions and opinions of the other two branches. Under normal circumstances, he would obey them unquestionably. Really. He would. But you know how it is. For the unavoidable use of his personal judgment in our present state of emergency, he is responsible to one party: the American people. He thanks you, though, for your concern.

Fourth, using the same very cool legal authority as Eisenhower in 1957, he has called out the National Guard and will be using it to govern the several states directly. He also observes that the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which has a very cool name but is frankly a major pain in the ass, does not apply to the Marines.

At this point the President has taken full and absolute personal power for the length of his second term. Perfectly in compliance with every last letter of the highest law of the land, he has gone from abject defeat to absolute victory. Indeed his new powers exceed even those claimed by Washington, Lincoln, or FDR. If you thought his first term made America great, I hope you’re wearing your seatbelt.

Because, fifth, no power is real until exercised. Power is a muscle. The use of power builds strong institutions. And there is an obvious target for power: the muscle of the old regime. The new regime’s fifth step is to liquidate the powerful, prestigious, and/or wealthy institutions of the old regime, inside and outside the formal government.

Stripping all the dead muscle of the dead regime is the first task of any new regime. Only once all the old power structures are lustrated and debrided is the new regime real, the old regime imaginary, and the entire transition complete. Not only is a revolution very cool, everything it does is very legal—by definition. After all, it is writing the new laws! And didn’t Lincoln padlock newspapers? Lincoln was dope.

Of course, liquidating organizations does not mean liquidating people, like Stalin—it’s just like a company going out of business. The departing staff may even deserve a generous severance. After all, they didn’t actually do anything wrong. And even if they did, there are still Stasi agents getting pensions. It’s the right thing to do, since their old careers have left them professionally useless. It is never, ever, the employees’ fault.

Sixth, though, it is not enough for any new regime to be a mere negation of the old. Any such regime exists within its parent’s conceptual shadow, which means its parent is in a way still in charge. And will probably end up actually back in charge. Weakness and smallness of any kind are no good signs in the infancy of any regime.

Rather, any new regime needs a completely different vision of the country it will rule. A true regime change has to change the life of everyone in the country. A true regime change must be a revolution in every sense of the word. Its purpose, now and for the rest of its life, which will probably end but which certainly never plans for any end, is to achieve and maintain its singular vision of utopia. 

And the revolution, since it is sovereign, has all the powers it needs to do so—so long as that utopia is realistic. Of course, since the right is order and the left is chaos, the left-wing revolution is a butcher and the right-wing revolution is a surgeon. If ours needs to keep its bandages on for a few days, theirs can barely be sold as hamburger. And even before her stitches are out, America feels and looks better than ever.

And before you know it, an election dispute has terminated a historical period that was a quarter-millennium old. Well, no empire is forever—and ditto for republics. And our new empire of the future just keeps getting more amazing.

Reflections on the late election

President-elect Biden is a Machiavellian's dream—especially the way it happened.

Nov 8, 2020
 
227
75
 
 

Though I did not put this in writing, not from responsibility but just out of cowardice, I did go around telling people IRL that my preferred outcome was “it looks like Trump wins, then it looks like Biden steals it from him.”

Some mistook this for an “accelerationist” stance. It was only Machiavellian. I would also tell Trumpists that I was “so pro-Trump, I wrap all the way around to pro-Biden.” This did not raise many hackles and was also quite true.

In any case I am delighted to hail, perhaps prematurely but I doubt it, the election of this elder statesman, this American Nestor, always a bridesmaid and now a bride, “China” Joe Biden. If the big guy ever needs to pull an Augustus, he knows who to call. 

(President-elect Biden has in fact kissed my own mother, not in a sexual way I think. My stepfather, a former Biden staffer from the ‘80s, is a gentleman of honor. So I hear only good things about America’s new cynosure. His teeth sure are looking great.)

Elections have consequences

It is useless to speculate on the details of a Philadelphia election. One need only say the words, “Philadelphia election,” and anyone on or near the grave of Mark Twain will experience a little earthquake. Has Philadelphia ever had a free and fair election?  (This country, for what it is, takes itself too seriously. Have you ever considered the possibility that America has always been a joke? I’m sure most historians have.)

The fundamental purpose of a democratic election is to test the strength of the sides in a civil conflict, without anyone actually getting hurt. The majority wins because the strongest side would win. Better to measure that by counting heads, than knocking heads; and counting heads produces a reasonable guess as to who would win a head-knocking contest. Same outcome, fewer concussions: a Pareto optimization.

But this guess is much better if it actually measures humans who are both willing and able to walk down the street and show up. Anyone who cannot show up at the booth is unlikely to show up for the civil war. This is one of many reasons that an in-person election is a more accurate election. (If voters could be qualified by physique, it would be even more accurate.)

My sense is that in many urban communities, voting by proxy in some sense is the norm. The people whose names are on the ballots really exist; and almost all of them actually did support China Joe. Or at least, preferred him. The extent to which they perform any tangible political action, including physically going to the booth, is very low; so is their engagement with the political system. They do not watch much CNN. The demand for records of their engagement is very high, because each such datum cancels out some huge, heavily-armed redneck with a bass boat. This is why, in the data, these cities look politics-obsessed, but photos of the polling places look empty. Most votes from these communities are in some sense “organized.”

Whether or not such a design constitutes “fraud” is the judge’s de gustibus. That is really no concern of ours. All we need to know is that whatever incubus sparked the divine wind that early on that dark, fateful morning struck so many swing cities, first pausing the dutiful clerks, then lifting up China Joe like Bilbo saved by the eagles, the noble and venerable American judiciary seems unlikely to want to look closely at it.

On behalf of the short-fingered vulgarian? In just a couple of months, he will be on the phone with his lawyers. For the rest of his life. No one will ever forget what he did here. No one will ever forget anyone who even tried to work with him. If someone shot him on Fifth Avenue, they’d get a ticket for unlawful discharge of a firearm. And when he does go to jail, it will not be for being strong, but for being weak.

Does he have an alternative? Sure. But he’s not going to like it. Nor will most people.

The irrational fear of power

Progressives see power as an end; conservatives see power as a means to an end. As soon as conservatives get even a sliver of power, they start trying to use this power to create good outcomes. This is irrational. 

The rational way to use power is the progressive way: to make more power. Your power grows exponentially. Eventually you have all the power, and can get all the outcomes you want.  

There is not one progressive idea which does not yield a power dividend. I cannot think of a conservative idea that does. If one did, the progressives would steal it. Then the conservatives would persuade themselves to oppose it, and all would be well.

This is not a coincidence. The great flaw of the American right is that, besides not being able to get any real power, they do not want any real power, and have no idea what they would do with any real power.

As I write, the path remains entirely open for Republicans, if they can operate as a coherent unit, to take all the power they want. They cannot, and they will not. Their fault is not in their stars, but themselves. 

How? Simple: they just need to legally assume absolute power, then use it absolutely. This would have been literally trivial four years ago, when Republicans controlled all three constitutional branches. Now it would take a constitutional hack to even get the Presidency back, and a couple more to reach real power. Let’s walk through the steps. (Content warning: this “very legal coup” will not actually happen.)

A very legal coup

First, Republican state legislators would have to declare the ballots flawed and seat their own electors, effectively stealing the election back. They could do this trivially, legally, today. They could call it the “Very Cool And Very Legal Act” (VCAVLA).

Second, to govern unilaterally without the Congress, the President would have to assert his unconditional constitutional authority over the executive branch. This is clearly stated in Article II: again, very cool and very legal. As for the so-called “power of the purse,” it doesn’t mean much against the power of the Fed. Since the Federal Reserve is part of the executive branch, who needs a Congressional appropriation? Lol owned.

Third, lacking a perfectly loyal Supreme Court, the President would have to point out the fallacious, ahistorical and illogical quality of Marbury v. Madison, and assert the independent and coequal status of the executive branch. Judicial supremacy is a completely apocryphal invention of Justice Marshall, created for his own random political reasons. Very cool. And very illegal, so screw that guy.

The President is always happy to hear the resolutions and opinions of the other two branches. Under normal circumstances, he would obey them unquestionably. Really. He would. But you know how it is. For the unavoidable use of his personal judgment in our present state of emergency, he is responsible to one party: the American people. He thanks you, though, for your concern.

Fourth, using the same very cool legal authority as Eisenhower in 1957, he has called out the National Guard and will be using it to govern the several states directly. He also observes that the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which has a very cool name but is frankly a major pain in the ass, does not apply to the Marines.

At this point the President has taken full and absolute personal power for the length of his second term. Perfectly in compliance with every last letter of the highest law of the land, he has gone from abject defeat to absolute victory. Indeed his new powers exceed even those claimed by Washington, Lincoln, or FDR. If you thought his first term made America great, I hope you’re wearing your seatbelt.

Because, fifth, no power is real until exercised. Power is a muscle. The use of power builds strong institutions. And there is an obvious target for power: the muscle of the old regime. The new regime’s fifth step is to liquidate the powerful, prestigious, and/or wealthy institutions of the old regime, inside and outside the formal government.

Stripping all the dead muscle of the dead regime is the first task of any new regime. Only once all the old power structures are lustrated and debrided is the new regime real, the old regime imaginary, and the entire transition complete. Not only is a revolution very cool, everything it does is very legal—by definition. After all, it is writing the new laws! And didn’t Lincoln padlock newspapers? Lincoln was dope.

Of course, liquidating organizations does not mean liquidating people, like Stalin—it’s just like a company going out of business. The departing staff may even deserve a generous severance. After all, they didn’t actually do anything wrong. And even if they did, there are still Stasi agents getting pensions. It’s the right thing to do, since their old careers have left them professionally useless. It is never, ever, the employees’ fault.

Sixth, though, it is not enough for any new regime to be a mere negation of the old. Any such regime exists within its parent’s conceptual shadow, which means its parent is in a way still in charge. And will probably end up actually back in charge. Weakness and smallness of any kind are no good signs in the infancy of any regime.

Rather, any new regime needs a completely different vision of the country it will rule. A true regime change has to change the life of everyone in the country. A true regime change must be a revolution in every sense of the word. Its purpose, now and for the rest of its life, which will probably end but which certainly never plans for any end, is to achieve and maintain its singular vision of utopia. 

And the revolution, since it is sovereign, has all the powers it needs to do so—so long as that utopia is realistic. Of course, since the right is order and the left is chaos, the left-wing revolution is a butcher and the right-wing revolution is a surgeon. If ours needs to keep its bandages on for a few days, theirs can barely be sold as hamburger. And even before her stitches are out, America feels and looks better than ever.

And before you know it, an election dispute has terminated a historical period that was a quarter-millennium old. Well, no empire is forever—and ditto for republics. And our new empire of the future just keeps getting more amazing.””


https://graymirror.substack.com/p/reflections-on-the-late-election?s=r

Edited by Willfully Horn
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16 hours ago, Pancho said:

So why are racist, radical republicans (RRRs) upset now that Biden is considering cancelling student debt?  Why do those people care about this? 

 

 

women and minorities have a disproportionately large percentage of student debt.

black women have a very disproportionately large percentage of student debt.

 

 

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Quote

AColorado judge on Wednesday upheld Secretary of State Jena Griswold’s decision to block state Rep. David Williams from being listed on a congressional ballot with a phrase he claims is his nickname: “Let’s Go Brandon.”

Williams, who is running in the Republican primary in Colorado’s 5th Congressional District, sued the state last week. Denver District Judge Andrew McCallin found that although Williams does in fact go by that nickname, Griswold has the authority to nix it from the ballot. McCallin noted in the ruling that Williams’ ballot status wasn’t harmed in the process. (His name appears first among a list of four candidates.)

 

Colorado law permits nicknames to appear on ballots as long as they are “regularly” used and don’t include part of a political party’s name. Williams said in his lawsuit that he started using “Let’s Go Brandon” in December, two months after the slogan became code for an expletive directed at President Joe Biden. But Griswold told local NBC affiliate KUSA that she is prohibiting the MAGA moniker in order to be “fair and transparent” with voters. The court’s ruling, she added, “affirms that the content of the ballot is not a place for political gamesmanship.”

In response to the ruling, Williams told KUSA, “It’s clear that a Democrat-appointed judge put his thumb on the scale for a corrupt Democrat secretary of state.” Williams added that he plans to appeal to the state’s highest court, and offered some blustery talk that there ought to be consequences if his case isn’t heard.

“If the Colorado Supreme Court doesn’t hear this appeal,” Williams claimed, “then they are derelict in their duty and lawmakers should remove their salaries or move to term them out of office without delay.”

 

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19 hours ago, Pancho said:

So why are racist, radical republicans (RRRs) upset now that Biden is considering cancelling student debt?  Why do those people care about this? 

because they think it will "buy" votes, which it probably will. which is why Biden needs to do it. that and legalize weed. before the midterms. like today. today would be good. I'm ready to set up my grow room. 

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13 hours ago, StassneyHorn said:

Another data point for 2020 numbers are dumb, special elections are stupid , and using them for redistricting is ret---we don't say that word.

Michigan HD-74 was +26 for Trump, but just went +9 to the Democrat Carol Glanville. 35 point swing 

And what's your more specific takeaway from this?

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