Primaries Tonight

The quick summary is tonight's results is notwithstanding the best efforts of the Democratic Party establishment (There is no Democratic Party establishment) and the New York Times, Graham Platner is now the official party nominee, getting more than ¾ of the vote, and soon to be former Congresswoman Nancy Mace came in a very distant 5th place in the South Carolina Republican Gubernatorial primary.

One wonders just how egregiously the Democratic Party establishment (There is no Democratic Party establishment) will ignore the whole, "Vote blue no matter who," mantra in Platner's case.

This Won't Come to Much

The House of Representatives has passed a War Powers Act resolution requiring that Trump get Congressional approval to continue prosecuting the war against Iran.

It has to be approved by the Senate as well, and would almost certainly require a conference committee to hash out differences, and even then Trump would veto this.

The US House of Representatives delivered a stunning rebuke to Donald Trump over his war on Iran on Wednesday, as representatives backed a move to force him to seek approval from Congress or withdraw US forces.

The House voted 215 to 208 in favor of the war powers resolution, as four Republicans voted with Democrats. The dissident Republicans were Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Warren Davidson of Ohio and Tom Barrett of Michigan.

Wednesday’s vote came nearly two weeks after House Republicans cancelled an earlier scheduled vote, on the grounds that they lacked the votes to defeat it.

The vote sends the resolution to the Senate. A handful of Senate Republican defectors joined Democrats last month to advance a similar resolution forcing Trump to seek congressional approval after four Republican senators rebelled and voted with the Democrats.

………

The vote’s impact is largely symbolic, as it is unclear whether the House version, which is a concurrent resolution and does not need to be signed by the president, carries the force of law, even if it also passes in the Senate. But it was a striking demonstration of the nascent willingness among a segment of Republicans to defy Trump, who has kept a vise-like grip on the party on Capitol Hill, through his willingness to exact retribution against dissenters.

 It embarrasses, and likely enrages, Trump, but beyond that, I do not expect anything to change.

Bad F%$#ng Idea

So, there are a number of ways that a future Democratic Party controlled Congress can deal with the issue of Gerrymandering.

This is the worst one I have seen so far, Congress refusing to seat Representatives from the states that have redistricted.

Apart from the obvious, it would cover California or any other blue state redistricting as well, it would embolden Republicans to do the same thing for any reason that they can pull out of their flabby wrinkled white asses.

………

Here’s an idea, then, for how the next Congress can defend multiracial democracy without needing to pass legislation. Article I, Section 5 of the Constitution makes each House of Congress the “Judge of the Elections, Returns, and Qualifications of its own Members.” Meanwhile, Article IV, Section 4 says that “The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government.” This provision—known as the Guarantee Clause—has long been held to be unenforceable in court—“non-justiciable,” to use the technical term. This rule dates back to the (wild) 1849 case Luther v. Borden, in which the Supreme Court declined to get involved in the recent Rhode Island civil war.

Instead, making good on the guarantee of republican government is left largely to Congress—and not only through the use of its legislative powers. For, as Chief Justice Roger B. Taney (yep, same guy) put it in Luther v. Borden, “when the senators and representatives of a State are admitted into the councils of the Union, the authority of the government under which they are appointed, as well as its republican character, is recognized by the proper constitutional authority.” In other words, Congress judges the republican character of each state every time it seats that state's elected representatives. This also implies that Congress can refuse to seat a state's representatives, if it thinks that state's government is not republican. And it has in fact used this power, most notably during Reconstruction: the Southern states' delegations were not seated until they had re-established legitimate, republican government to the satisfaction of Congress.

Suppose, then, that a majority of the House of Representatives thinks that Callais was wrongly decided. That would mean that the elections for Congress in states like Tennessee, which have eagerly exploited Callais, were conducted unlawfully, even unconstitutionally. It might even imply that the governments of those states are no longer republican in character: surely, after all, the Fifteenth Amendment guarantee of black suffrage is an essential part of what republican government means in America today. Accordingly, Congress could refuse to seat any of Tennessee's nine (all-white, all-Republican) representatives.

This would be a f%$#ing disaster.

F%$# Flock

An amendment has been proposed to a major transportation bill that would ban the use of automated license plate readers for any purpose beyond toll booths.

It appears that the anti-Flock movement has friends in Congress. 

US lawmakers plan to introduce an amendment Thursday at a House committee markup hearing that would prohibit any recipient of federal highway funding from using automated license plate readers for any purpose other than tolling—a sweeping restriction that, if adopted, would bring an immediate end to state and local ALPR programs across the United States.

The amendment, obtained first by WIRED, is sponsored by Representative Scott Perry, a Pennsylvania Republican and Freedom Caucus member, and Representative Jesús “Chuy” García, an Illinois progressive whose state has become a flash point in the national fight over ALPR misuse.

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will mark up the underlying bill—a $580 billion, five-year reauthorization of federal surface transportation programs—at 10 am ET on Thursday.

Neither Perry nor García's offices immediately responded to WIRED's request for comment.

The amendment runs a single sentence: “A recipient of assistance under Title 23, United States Code, may not use automated license plate readers for any purpose other than tolling.”

Here's hoping it passes. 

I Know Who Not to Endorse

Nancy Pelosi is not running for reelection, and I know very little about her successor, but I do know who I would recommend that any of my reader(s) in her Bay Area district NOT vote for, Connie Chan.

I know this because Nancy "Insider Trading" Pelosi has endorsed her in the primary. 

Anyone endorsed by the former House Speaker can be reasonably assumed to be of like mind to Pelosi, and more of the same is a f%$#ing disaster.

Nancy Pelosi on Monday endorsed Connie Chan, a San Francisco supervisor, in the race to succeed her as the city’s representative in Congress, calling her the candidate who “stands above the rest”.

Pelosi, the first woman to serve as speaker of the House, will retire at the end of her term and had not yet weighed in on the contested primary for the San Francisco district she has held for nearly 40 years. But as early mail-in ballots trickle in ahead of the 2 June primary, Pelosi declared Chan the “leader best prepared to carry forward the fight for San Francisco in the Congress”.

………

Pelosi’s endorsement comes as polling shows Chan in a tight contest to advance to the November general election in a field that includes Scott Wiener, a Democratic state senator known for championing legislation to ramp up housing production and enshrining LGBTQ+ rights, and Saikat Chakrabarti, a former tech executive who served as Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s first chief of staff and has been an outspoken critic of Pelosi and the Democratic party leadership. Ocasio-Cortez has declined to endorse anyone in the race.

Several recent surveys show Chan effectively tied with Chakrabarti for second place, behind Wiener. Under California’s primary system, the top two contenders will advance to the November general election, regardless of party.

Gee, You Think?

When you read a headline like, "Maine Dems Angry About DCCC Interference in House Primary," you know that the story is incomplete.

The a more complete story would have the hed, "Main Dems Angry About Democratic Establishment in House and Senate Primaries," and a truly complete story would have the hed, "Main to Democratic Party Establishment, F%$#-Off You Incompetent Losers."

Among Democrat Party members, the Democratic Party establishment (There is no Democratic Party establishment) is about as popular as bleeding hemorrhoids. 

Locals in Maine are bridling at the decision by a powerful Washington Democratic group to throw its weight behind one candidate in the contested primary race for the House seat in the state’s 2nd Congressional District.

On Monday, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee issued a coveted endorsement of state Sen. Joe Baldacci in the primary race, prompting angry protests from the three other candidates in the race to replace outgoing Democratic Rep. Jared Golden.

In response to the endorsement, the Penobscot County Democratic Committee — in Baldacci’s home county, which includes the city of Bangor — will vote Saturday on a measure to condemn the endorsement. The language of the proposal, which was put forward by former Maine state Senate President Charles Pray, denounces the endorsement as being in “total disregard and willfully ignoring” local party rules that bar the Democratic state and county chapters from backing a candidate in a primary.

The Democratic Party base is sick and tired of the professional losers who constitute the party leadership. 

Surprisingly Good News

The US Senate has adopted a rule forbidding its members from betting in prediction markets.

Since this is a Senate rule, and not legislation, this goes into effect without a vote of the House or a Presidential signature.

Now, how about banning the whole corrupt enterprise? 

US senators voted unanimously to ban themselves from making bets on prediction markets yesterday, about a week after Kalshi said it caught three congressional candidates betting on their own campaigns.

The resolution to prohibit senators from trading on prediction markets passed yesterday by unanimous consent. The action amends the Senate’s conflict-of-interest rules and does not require approval by the House of Representatives. The House has a pending resolution that would impose a similar rule on its own members.

“United States Senators have no business engaging in speculative activities like prediction markets while collecting a taxpayer-funded paycheck, period,” said Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), who introduced the resolution. “Serving in Congress should never be about finding new ways to profit; it should be about delivering results for the American people.”

Moreno’s resolution applies broadly to all bets on prediction markets, not just those related to events of which a senator has inside knowledge. The Senate also adopted an amendment submitted by Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), which extends the trading ban to Senate officers and employees. Padilla said in a statement that the rule as amended “is a commonsense step to ensure that senators and their staff cannot use their positions of public trust to line their own pockets.”

The only question now is how lackadaisical the Senate will be in actually enforcing this.

A Small Win

The DHS funding bill finally passed both houses without funding ICE or the Border Patrol.

Johnson said no funding bill without funding those two agencies, but he blinked. 

The House on Thursday passed stalled legislation reopening the Department of Homeland Security, ending a record 76-day shutdown at the agency and resolving uncertainty over whether thousands of federal security workers would be paid in May.

The voice vote after a brief debate brought to a close a bitter partisan fight spurred by President Trump’s immigration crackdown and the tactics of federal immigration officers who fatally shot two U.S. citizens during immigration roundups in Minneapolis earlier this year. Negotiations between the White House and Democrats who were demanding new restrictions on the officers went nowhere, leading to an impasse that cut off funding on Feb. 14. 

………

Senate Republicans and Democrats had struck a deal on April 1 to fund everything except for the immigration enforcement agencies, vowing to approve that money separately in a bill that Democrats could not block. But the House G.O.P. declined for weeks to act on the measure, with conservatives refusing to vote for a bill that did not fund ICE and border patrol.

House leaders finally took it up on Thursday ahead of a 12-day break, and after the White House requested that the bill be passed immediately.

The bullies blinked. 

 

Bye Felicia Janet

Maine Governor Janet Mills has ended her candidacy for the Maine Senate seat currently held by Susan Collins.

I guess that she realized that all that her continued campaign could do was make people dislike her even more.

In related news, we are seeing increased calls for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to shut the f%$# up.

People are sick and tired of his do-nothing centrist bullsh%$:

Chuck Schumer’s critics are using the faceplant of one of his star recruits to argue he needs to get out of the way in other races.

After Maine Gov. Janet Mills dropped out of her state’s primary Thursday, Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) called on the Senate minority leader and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee to drop their involvement in remaining contested primaries across the map including Iowa and Michigan.

“I think the math and polling would indicate that that would be a good idea,” Heinrich told POLITICO in an interview.

Heinrich, who endorsed against Schumer’s favored candidates in both Maine and Michigan, said Schumer’s Maine miscalculation showed he and the DSCC have operated on an old model of electability in an anti-establishment year.

Heinrich is being too charitable.  The DSCC, DCCC, and DNC have operated on a FALSE model of electability, not an OLD model. 

Speaking of Geriatric Democratic Party Leadership in Congress

David Scott (D-GA 13) just died at age 80.  

He was running for reelection at the time.

He had been removed as ranking member of the House Agriculture Committee by fellow Democrats because his health problems prevented him from showing up, and he was increasingly unable to string together a coherent sentence.

It is complete bullsh%$ that members of Congress are using their office and their staffs as assisted living aides, and while there are Republican examples like Mitch McConnell, the fact that 7 of the 10 oldest Representatives are Democrats, etc. is an indication of a problem. (Further numbers, 15 of 20, 22 of 30, 31 of 40, and 35 of 50)

I think that I see the problem here. 

………Which Would Be Replaced by Something Even More Bizarrely Inexplicable

I am referring, of course, to the fact that Markwayne Mullin has been confirmed as the new Secretary of Homeland Security, replacing Kristi "Ice Barbi" Noem.

I did not think that it would possible to find someone worse than Noem.

I was misinformed.

The Senate confirmed Sen. Markwayne Mullin on Monday to serve as the next secretary of Homeland Security, putting the Oklahoma Republican in charge of immigration enforcement, one of President Trump's biggest priorities in his second term.

Mullin won the confirmation in a 54-45 vote. He will be the second secretary to lead the department during this Trump administration, replacing Kristi Noem. He comes to the helm in the midst of a shutdown that has left 100,000 of the department's more than a quarter-million employees working without pay.

Reality exceeds my capability for cynicism yet again. 

Please Make it So

It appears that a group of Senate Democrats are looking at replacing Chuck Schumer with someone who has a modicum of guts and integrity.

About f%$#ing time:

Sen. Chris Murphy was dining with progressive activists at a French restaurant in Washington’s Georgetown neighborhood when the conversation about how to advance their legislative priorities turned to a thorny question: what to do about Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

To the surprise of some attendees, the Connecticut Democrat—a rising star in the party’s left flank—responded that some lawmakers had been doing informal counts to see whether enough votes existed to remove the New York Democrat from his leadership position, according to people familiar with the mid-February dinner. Murphy explained that Schumer had enough backing to remain as leader. But the disclosure stood out nonetheless, because it revealed that frustration inside the Senate had reached a high enough level that some Democrats were actively contemplating how to oust Schumer.

………

In more than four dozen interviews with Democratic senators, candidates, current and former congressional aides, activists and advisers, many said the concern about Schumer’s leadership was widespread. Meetings between Democratic chiefs of staff on Senate business often veer into airing discontent with Schumer and how to pressure him to step aside as leader after November’s elections, according to attendees and others familiar with the discussions.

Your mouth to God's ear, Mr. Murphy.

Classy

Neal Dunn (R-FL) is retiring from the House of Representatives.

It's generally been assumed that he had health issues.  This was confirmed when made a snarky revelation about him having a terminal illness.

Trump should have been drowned at birth.

President Donald Trump on Monday revealed that retiring Rep. Neal Dunn (R-Florida) is fighting a terminal illness and said that doctors previously told Dunn he could be “dead by June.”

In January, Dunn announced that he would not seek reelection to the House after five terms representing Florida’s 2nd District. Dunn, 73, did not offer details about the reasons behind his retirement, but it has been widely reported that he has been dealing with health issues.

On Monday, Trump divulged details about Dunn’s diagnosis while speaking to reporters at the Kennedy Center, where he attended a board meeting with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana), among others.

With Johnson seated beside him, Trump riffed on how difficult it is for the speaker to operate with a very slim majority, particularly given recent resignations and the January death of Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-California).

Trump said that another Republican lawmaker “was very ill and looked like he wasn’t going to make it.” At first, Trump did not share the congressman’s name but then encouraged Johnson to divulge details.

Johnson identified Dunn and said he “had a pretty grim diagnosis.” After some prodding from Trump, Johnson added that it was a “terminal diagnosis.”

“He would be dead by June,” Trump added, interrupting a stunned Johnson.

He then went on to brag about he personally got Dunn into Walter Reed for treatment.

What a miserable excuse for a human being. 

Crockett Conceded and Endorsed Talarico

All those people who were screaming, "Oh my God, Crockett is going to go scorched earth!" were wrong.

What they really were saying was, "This angry n****r scares us." 

She gave a full-throated endorsement of him.  Progressives don't act the way that faux Democrats do.

Rep. Jasmine Crockett congratulated state Rep. James Talarico in a phone call on becoming the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate race in Texas, the congresswoman said in a statement.

"Texas is primed to turn blue and we must remain united because this is bigger than any one person," she said. "This is about the future of all 30 million Texans and getting America back on track."

Crockett called on the party to unite behind Talarico heading into what is expected to be a top race to watch this fall.

"With the primary behind us, Democrats must rally around our nominees and win," she said. "I’m committed to doing my part and will continue working to elect democrats up and down the ballot." 

………

 

It's Primary Night

Just a quick run-down:

• Texas Senate: James Talerico has defeated Jasmine Crockett in the Democratic Senate primary in Texas, and Cornyn and Paxton are headed for a runoff on the Republican side. (Texas rules require a runoff if a candidate does not secure an absolute majority of the votes.)
• US Congress TX-2: Incumbent Dan Crenshaw, who is definitely nuts, lost the primary to the even nuttier Steve Toth.
• US Congress TX-23: Incumbent Tony Gonzales and Gun Tuber Brandon Herrera are almost tied, and are headed to a runoff.  What makes this race interesting is that married with 6 children Gonzalez had an affair with one of his staffers, harassed her repeatedly, and she committed suicide by setting herself on fire.  Herrera, on the other hand has political positions, particularly with regard to gun laws that are repugnant to me, but he is very entertaining on YouTube.
• US Congress NC-4:  A very close rematch (Yet to be called) between incumbent Valerie Foushee, and Nida Allam.  Of note here is that AIPAC and AI datacenter money was a big factor, and Foushee promised not to take money from them, but received support from a related stealth PACs.  (More on that later)

Here's hoping that further developments give the Democratic Party establishment (There is no Democratic Party establishment) some major heartburn.

Today in Cowardice

Congressmen Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie are attempting to force a War Powers Act resolution on what looks to be an all out attack on Iran. 

The Democratic Party establishment (There is no Democratic Party establishment) is doing their level best to sabotage this effort, because heaven forbid that a member of Congress should go on the record on the matter of war or peace.

Careerist assholes. 

House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats have been working behind the scenes to try to prevent a vote on Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie’s Iran war powers resolution – a measure that would require every member of Congress to go on the record about a potential U.S. war with Iran.

A top Democratic HFAC staffer, multiple sources with direct knowledge tell me, ​​deliberately inflated projections of opposition to the bipartisan measure – warning of 20 to 40 Democratic defections – as part of a broader effort to dampen momentum and prevent the Iran war powers vote from advancing. Khanna and Massie had initially planned to force a vote on the resolution this week, but Democratic leadership is now saying they expect the vote to be delayed until next week or even later. The postponement comes as the Trump administration accelerates preparations for unauthorized military action, overseeing the largest U.S. military buildup in the region in years.

………

A senior Democratic congressional staffer told me it’s “pretty clear” Democratic leadership is working to delay “or potentially sideline” the vote on the Khanna-Massie war powers resolution. “If you’ve been around the Hill, this is a familiar playbook.”

………

The internal effort to sabotage momentum for the Iran war powers resolution reflects a broader strategic calculation among Democratic elites. As a recent Drop Site report detailed, many top Democrats privately believe Iran will ultimately have to be confronted militarily. But they also understand that openly backing another regime change war in the Middle East would be politically toxic. Poll after poll show there is little to no appetite for war with Iran, including lukewarm support among conservatives. The preferred outcome of many AIPAC-aligned Senate Democrats, according to a senior foreign policy aide to Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, is that Trump acts unilaterally, weakening Iran while absorbing the domestic backlash ahead of the midterms.

………

Unlike the run-up to the Iraq war, when the Bush administration orchestrated a sustained campaign to sell the public on invasion, the Trump administration has made little effort to construct a coherent case for war with Iran. They aren’t bothering to lie convincingly to the public. And top Democrats, mainstream media outlets, and liberal commentators have been conspicuously silent.

………

I asked Schumer’s office last week whether he supports Trump’s potential strikes, and whether escalation into a broader regional conflict is a risk he considers acceptable. His office did not respond to my request for comment. Days later, and only after the Drop Site report was published, Schumer’s office issued a minimal statement in support of congressional war powers.

Heaven forbid that Schumer and the rest of the Democratic Party establishment (There is no Democratic Party establishment) make anything like a meaning full statement on this.

It's not like Congress has any role in going to war. (Spoiler, only Congress can declare war)

………

Votes to invoke the War Powers Resolution are historically rare on Capitol Hill – though they have increased in frequency in recent years – and party leadership in both chambers has sought to avoid them. Passed over Nixon’s veto, the War Powers Resolution of 1973 was designed to guarantee that decisions about war reflect congressional deliberation and, by extension, the will of the American people before a president pulls the trigger. Forcing members to take a recorded position on military action carries political risk and can expose internal divisions, particularly when the White House is pressing for escalation.

………

Even Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, a staunch pro-Israel Democrat from Florida, has flipped on the issue. She supported Trump’s strikes on Iran in June but is now publicly against unauthorized war with Iran. “Make the case to the American people. Make the case to Congress,” Wasserman-Schultz said in an interview on MSNBC. “We have not seen anything about an imminent threat that would necessitate a significant strike.”

Even Wasserman-Schultz, the poster child for fecklessness among the Democratic Party establishment (There is no Democratic Party establishment) in Congress is willing state a position.

If a Senator or Representative is unwilling to make a statement on this, they are unfit for office.

Thank You ……… Mitch McConnell?!?!?!?!?!

It appears that Senator Yertle the Turtle is blocking Donald Trumps attempt to disenfranchise a significant portion of the American electorate.

Color me confused.

Senator Mitch McConnell appears to be stalling the voting bill backed by President Trump, and fellow Republicans are not happy.

McConnell, who leads the Senate Rules Committee, is refusing to schedule a vote on the legislation, thus preventing it from moving forward. The bill would create barriers for voting, requiring specific forms of ID in order for Americans to exercise their constitutional right.

………

Last year, McConnell wrote in The Wall Street Journal that such a bill would give a future Democratic president and Congress the ability to “use more sweeping mandates to carry out a complete federal takeover of American elections.” 

“The current administration has better ways to spend its time than laying the groundwork for a leftwing election takeover,” McConnell wrote.

Well, I never thought that McConnel was stupid, I just thought that he was evil.

Good Lawyering

Les Wexner’s attorney did not like his answers to the questions during the House Oversight Committee deposition.

He told Wexner: “I’ll fucking kill you if you answer another question with more than five words, ok?” pic.twitter.com/XZQqzl7hMu

— Reese Gorman (@reesejgorman) February 19, 2026

Seriously good lawyering 

Also, funny as hell.

Sometimes, microphones capture something that they shouldn't.

When pedophile co-conspirator Les Wexner was testifying before Congress about Jeffrey Epstein.

His lawyer, who had clearly wanted Wexner to keep it short and sweet in his testimony, was less than pleased with his performance, and when his client became excessively loquacious he had (whispered) words with his client.

BTW, except for speaking a bit loudly, I think that Wexner's attorney, Michael Levy, did a pretty good job there. 

 

Invite Ted Cruz on Your Show, Stephen

Streisand Effect Applies 

So, the FCC Chairman sent a threat to CBS regarding Stephen Colbert's interview with US Senate candidate James Talarico, saying that he might change the rules to  on interview shows to require equal time.

Stephen Colbert should call the bluff, and announce an invitation for the Republican candidate, Ted Cruz, to appear on his show. 

It's a win-win for the late night host: Ted Cruz refuses, and Colbert gets to taunt him until May, or Ted Cruz accepts, and then Stephen Colbert gets to fillet him like an overfed catfish.

I would pay good money to see Colbert taking down Cruz. 

I Have Not Written About This Because I Just Can't

Refusing to make eye contact with Epstein victimsI am referring, of course, to Pam Bondi's  epic meltdown in front of the House Judiciary Committee.

Let me be clear, this is not because it is too emotionally painful for me, I have watched various videos with no small amount of amusement.

This is because this sh%$ is so  meshugana that I lack the communication skills to address this.

Coming from a people who have as many words for crazy as almost any other people, (meshugana, furshlugginer, verklempt, farmisht, farblunjet, etc.) this is a rather telling admission.

Here's one video, there are many, many, others: