Charles Barkley reference. Very nice!! I love Chuckles. And even though he's a Republican, he's quite anti-MAGA. When he speaks, he usually makes sense, even on non-basketball stuff (some would say he makes more sense on non-basketball stuff LOL)
I didn’t know he was a Republican but yeah he’s mostly sensible. I like it when he opines about hockey, which he seems more interested in than basketball
One of my favorite of his opinions was when he was asked about how some fans were upset of the (minimal, IMO) coverage of Taylor Swift during Chiefs' games. He said something like, "If you're mad about seeing ten seconds of Taylor Swift during a football game, you're either a jackass, a loser, or both."
I should clarify-- I don't know if he still identifies as a Republican now, but he is pretty strongly anti-MAGA. He couldn't stand that Roy Moore was running for the senate seat, and he definitely supported Doug Jones. He was a Schwarzenegger/Kizinger-style R for a long time, so if he's still an R, I imagine he's like that.
Thank you for the clarification. Well Kinzinger had some pretty bad votes, but I will take him now. He seems to have done a 180. Also, I respect that he (and Liz Cheney) were on the J6 Committee. They both knew the consequences and did it anyway.
Simon, thank you for the summary. So proud of Aftyn Behn. This seat is open again in a year and I hope Dems will make another hard run for it. Build on the good work that's been done.
I called Congressman Raskin and Senators Alsobrooks and Van Hollen.
The TN 07 election wasn’t great obvs because the GOP won, but was absolutely NOT TERRIBLE, because that’s a hell of a swing left and it confirms the consistency of the swing we’re seeing pro Dem.
That’s what, 40-60 seats in play next year? Redistricting isn’t going to save the GOP then and if anything, it may further hurt them with the dummymander.
Bringing the margins down from +22 to +9 is Fantastic! The quote from Simon this morning was "A swing half as large would give Democrats the U.S. House in 2026, and put the Senate clearly in play.” The WaPo link further emphasized the totality of the repub decline. "Republican strategists have worried for several months about Trump’s plummeting support among independent voters, which helped lead to blowout wins for Democrats in gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia last month."
Made my calls to my Democratic elected folks in Washington emphasizing the need to speak loudly and lead on the bipartisan issues of Ukraine and our 80 year Western Alliance, and the lawlessness in the Caribbean. I asked for a no confidence vote. I look forward to being with you all in our weekly gathering tonight. Thank you for all you do!
Yesterday, the banner for my twice-weekly bridge protest in Austin, TX read, "We ain't buyin' it."
It's a saying that reminds people not to support corporations that support and encourage the policies of this administration. But it's also a great way to express the frustration that people feel as this administration hurts people's lives, destroys our democratic institutions, and lies to us and makes up excuses about what is happening. We ain't buyin' it!!!
The response from passing cars was very enthusiastic. Lots of horns blowing in unison, friendly waves , and thumbs up. They ain't buyin' it!!!
Let’s hang that Trump quote like a putrid albatross around the neck of every Republican candidate in November 2026 – as well as in every single election between now and then!
Yes! How about with pictures of that woman dancing in a giant glass at the Mar-a-Lago party? I forget when that party was but it was just after the republicans announced a cut or Johnson wouldn't convene the House or I can't remember but it was outrageous. The Dems could take their pick. Too many for me to keep straight now.
Arctic, it was very gratifying to hear Rick Wilson (Lincoln Project co-founder) discussing how he’ll be featuring tRumpy’s “affordability” denial in upcoming ads.
It kind of makes me smile to think of all those GOP pea-brains being asked a million times to explain why the leader of their party thinks affordability is a “hoax”.
Great summary as always. Sh*t is coming home to roost. Speaking of which, re our discussion about accountability hearings by Dems, NJ's own Sen. Andy Kim was on Coffee w the Contrarians this morning discussing corruption both at state level (he testified in Trenton on Monday) and federal, and why it's so corrosive. He posted a video a couple days back about the corruption of Orange regime, and tied all of it together very succinctly. He has some experience in doing this for regimes abroad as part of two administrations' national security teams, so he knows whereof he speaks.
Sen. Kim also said that he hosted town halls in NJ prior to Nov 4 election discussing the topic of regime corruption in detail, and said he is going to continue to do so. Also said this was going to be happening nationally. This is the first I've heard of this -- sounds like more shadow hearings/town halls are coming...
Here in the Garden State, we worked really hard to get Sen. Kim elected to the House in 2018, and you may remember he won by about only 2k votes. I was part of a group that went into ruby red Ocean County to knock doors & get every last vote, & he flipped an R district! He was also the congressman who was photographed cleaning up the Capitol rotunda after 1/6. Since then, he hasn't slowed down--after declaring candidacy for open Senate seat after Menendez stepped down last year, he took on the NJ State Dems re corrupt ballot design and won! He is a soft-spoken man, but don't let that fool you. I for one would not mess with him--he brings the moral authority whenever he steps into a space.
I saw the his debate during the senate primary, and he was really good. I think I've heard him on PSA and another podcast I can't recall, also. I share your assessment. He's a badass. Thanks for sharing the links.
While I didn’t agree with Kim’s vote to confirm Noem, I understand the logic and, more importantly, continue to be so impressed by his service. I’ve listened to several tele-town halls and attended one in person last Spring. Andy Kim is a gem.
Thanks for sharing the Coffee with Contrarians, I will def check it out. I also listened to the S4924 hearings in Trenton yesterday. What a mess. Maddening, and just so wrong how Andy and AG Platkin were treated.
Love that Aftyn Behn ran to win in a Trump +22 district. The best way to build a lasting majority is to concede no ground, and go into every race with the intent to win. She made a strong case for Dems/Anti-MAGA. She showed up for the people in her district. That's what it's going to take for several years.
As Chair of the DNC Ken Martin has said, the motto is "compete everywhere, win anywhere"
No more freebies for the GOP. They poured over 3 million into TN-07. A 13 point swing from 2024 is a good outcome, but I was hoping for more. Still as Simon says, you can't win them all, and this one did not really change the momentum.
What will help expand the momentum towards us is Trump's public naps. The thing about dementia is it gets worse and we are seeing that. It also tends to accelerate... i.e. get worse faster. If anyone just dropped into yesterday's televised cabinet meeting without any prior knowledge, they would clearly see that the leader is unfit for office. 25 47
I noticed that Trump’s post-stroke droop-face was on display again yesterday while he nodded off continually during the cabinet meeting. I think we can really put “Trump 2028” fears to rest, because he is clearly not going to make it that long. Even if he hasn’t passed on by that point, they’d have to just use AI videos of him for his campaign b/c he’d be incapable of going on his rally tours. And, yeah, presumably a lot of the MAGA the base would still vote for him, but he wouldn’t be able to pull together another gullible coalition like he did in Nov. ‘24. It’s just not happening.
We should also put the “there aren’t gonna be elections anymore” fears to rest, because if that were true, then TN 7 last night wouldn’t have even been a thing. Clearly, we are very much going to have midterms and the GOP is very much going to have to work to defend formerly “safe” and gerrymandered seats.
Called my senators and told them I want to see HR 6019 brought to a vote in the Senate and passed asap. No handouts for taxpayers, they always say. Well, no handouts for congresspersons either, then. Especially not the traitors.
"We should also put the “there aren’t gonna be elections anymore” fears to rest, because if that were true, then TN 7 last night wouldn’t have even been a thing. Clearly, we are very much going to have midterms and the GOP is very much going to have to work to defend formerly “safe” and gerrymandered seats."
What I can't get out of my head is that Trump used despicable, racist language yesterday calling Somalians "garbage" and JD Vance banged the table in agreement...not a word from any other Rs anywhere.
Stefanik is continuing her mean girl show and it is getting uglier and uglier..you have to go pretty far to offend Mike Johnson and she has done that! Not gonna work for her. Compare that to Sherrill and Spanberger who are bright, normal, women and who won convincingly.
Hyperbolic performative nonsense loses its effect when over and over again, you don't deliver for people. People gave Trump and MAGA the benefit of the doubt when they inherited Obama's good economy and could ride his coattails on that. Now that people are getting crushed by high costs made worse by his tariffs, and potentially higher insurance costs, and no answers for housing affordability, they'll have no tolerance for it.
How about Vance’s incessant scapegoating of immigrants for the housing crisis. He was doing that on the campaign trail in Nov. ‘24 too and has never quit.
Shortly after their election victory in Nov. ‘24, an anonymous “brown roundup” letter went around my local community. It said people needed to start taking notes of “brown” and Spanish-speaking locals, including where they are seen, license plate numbers, etc., to turn into the federal government once a tip line was set up. The letter went on to say that this would help the feds “round up” said people, take them to the “camps” in Texas, and then houses would be plentiful at affordable prices for white people here.
When a local Republican office-holder was asked about the letter, he said he didn’t know where that kind of hate or fear could come from. To which I was like, IT CAME FROM JD VANCE’S CAMPAIGN SPEECHES AND YOU KNOW IT!
somalians revitalized the city of lewiston maine, and led the school's soccer team to the state championship; there is a book about it. faced with racist taunts, the coach told them, just stuff some goals in the net and they will shut up. on snowy days, it was the somali players who showed up to shovel the pitch.
I would like there to be more words from Democrats on that! I called my MN Senators and asked them to speak up loudly to defend the Somali community and their colleague, Ilhan Omar. There's a lot of silence when people go after her. I said I was counting on the whole MN delegation to do so. I expect that Rep Craig will remain silent, but I hope I am wrong.
Maybe it was bc the Republicans put in more money and "the big guns" showed up to rally. Well, to be honest, Trump phoned it in while Johnson held the phone ... like the lap dog he is.
Maybe Simon will discuss this tonight: I believe I saw Tom Bonier on Bluesky, as well as other data experts in a Strength in Numbers thread, basically saying this TN election had surprisingly high turnout—maybe because both parties hyped it. In recent elections, Democrats have sometimes performed well in low turnout situations, due to voter enthusiasm. The TN one apparently resembled midterm turnout. The experts seem to think this should alarm Republicans more.
R's can't claim (with a straight face) that it was just a bunch of hyper excited liberals who showed up in Nashville on a weird special election, and that they will do better under normal turnout. This was a high-turnout election, and it swung heavily in favor of the Democrats.
Democrats received a net 13-point shift in their favor by going from +22 down to only +8.9 in a deeply red CD. This emphasized how badly Republicans could lose in 2026.
Here is what Lisa Dejardin of PBS said about the projections. "A recent poll from Emerson College Polling/The Hill showed Democrats trailing in the special election by just 2 points. Both my Democratic and Republican sources say it does not reflect what they see internally. But the race is clearly closer than Trump’s 22-point margin in 2024. Democrats will be happy if they keep it within 10 points."
Polling is a snapshot, and it operates within a margin of error. Trends, not individual polls, are really more telling. So it's reasonable that there was a difference of 7-8 points from one poll to the other, esp. if the polling was done a while ago. Also, someone else mentioned turnout, that does play a role, esp. depending on whom they polled - likely voters or registered Dems.
Emerson discussed that results would depend heavily on turnout.
“ 'The special election in Tennessee’s 7th District will come down to what groups are motivated to turnout on election day, and who stays home,' Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said. 'Those who report voting early break for Behn, 56% to 42%, whereas those who plan to vote on Election Day break for Van Epps, 51% to 39%. Voters under 40 are Behn’s strongest group, 64% of whom support her, while Van Epps’ vote increases with age, to 61% of those over 70.'
'There is also a stark gender divide; men break for Van Epps by nine points, 51% to 42%, whereas women break for Behn by six, 50% to 44%' ”
A comment from Shakespeare: “Macbeth doth kill sleep”. Apparently it’s a historical problem for traitors.
Today I have contacted my reps in DC to join in raising the alarm over the betrayal of Ukraine, NATO, Europe and America’s security. At the very least, Witkoff must be questioned by a committee and the interview must be made public.
Here is a copy of a letter that I sent by email to my members of Congress, both House and Senate:
This is the message I sent on Monday, December 1, 2025 and I am reminding you of what must be done now:
I wrote to you about laws being broken. I also told you we need to deal with ICE and the military being on our streets. They acted like a bunch of terrorists here in Charlotte, NC, rounding up people. Throwing people on the ground. This is outreagous.
You need to stand up for Ukraine and stop this assault by Putin. You need to deal with Donald Trump and his adminstration not standing up for our values.
You need to stop this assault on our health from Robert Kennedy, Jr. People will die if we abandon our scientific research and you will have children and elderly die from this stupidity and cruelty.
Here are five things you must do:
1. Stand with Ukraine and our European allies, and far more forcefully challenge Trump’s traitorous efforts to sell out the US and the West to Russia; demand Congress rebuke/issue a no confidence vote on his current efforts to force Ukraine to surrender
2. Congress must stand forcefully for rule of law in the Caribbean - these illegal strikes must end; no war can be waged without Congressional approval; there must accountability for those who have broken the law
3. Roll back Trump’s terrible, illegal tariffs that are re-igniting inflation, driving up prices, shifting the tax burden from the wealthy to working people, hurting small businesses and farmers, reviving tyrannical “taxation without representation,” and alienating governments and people throughout the world
4. Defend our democracy, rule of law, and our liberties by blocking the expansion of ICE; restoring due process for immigrants across the country; vigorously defending the 1st Amendment; warring against his outrageous targeting of his domestic political opponents; ending the use of the military on our streets and the unlawful occupation of our cities; stopping the unprecedented corruption; and by forcing the Administration to finally comply with Congress, end the rancid cover up, and release all of the Epstein files
5. Fight Trump’s war on science, higher education and our public health; reverse - not delay - the cuts to the ACA and Medicaid; support and co-sponsor Rep. Haley Stevens’ effort to Impeach and remove Robert Kennedy
This is a good YouTube short done by Brett Meislas where he points out we wone a race in Roswell Georgia for Mayor for the pro democracy movement as well as we overprerformed the race in TN:
Called and left voicemails for my reps in my state legislature (who are team red) about Elaine Miles, the Native American tribal member born in Pendleton Oregon who was recently traveling in Redmond, Washington, when she got surrounded by armed masked men who were ostensibly ICE or Border Patrol. They demanded that she immediately prove lawful status and then told her that her tribal ID was fake.
This is why it is vitally important that the ICE facility not go in at the Newport airport. Already at least one Oregonian has been unlawfully detained and flown to an ICE detention facility in another state, incarcerated there, and then randomly let go and stranded in that other state with no way to get home. If we let an ICE facility go in at an airport here on the coast where we have multiple tribes, this could easily start happening to our own tribal members.
Our reps in the state legislature need to stand up for the dignity of their constituents who are tribal or otherwise non-white and for the sovereignty of the State of Oregon, to whom the basic police power rightfully belongs. We are not supposed to have armed, masked federal police randomly accosting US citizens and demanding they show their papers. That is not how a “free country” works.
Those pictures of him...
I call him the "Round Mound of Sundown".
Charles Barkley reference. Very nice!! I love Chuckles. And even though he's a Republican, he's quite anti-MAGA. When he speaks, he usually makes sense, even on non-basketball stuff (some would say he makes more sense on non-basketball stuff LOL)
I didn’t know he was a Republican but yeah he’s mostly sensible. I like it when he opines about hockey, which he seems more interested in than basketball
One of my favorite of his opinions was when he was asked about how some fans were upset of the (minimal, IMO) coverage of Taylor Swift during Chiefs' games. He said something like, "If you're mad about seeing ten seconds of Taylor Swift during a football game, you're either a jackass, a loser, or both."
Ugh. I didn't know Barkley is a Republican. I remember when he campaigned for Doug Jones for Senate.
I should clarify-- I don't know if he still identifies as a Republican now, but he is pretty strongly anti-MAGA. He couldn't stand that Roy Moore was running for the senate seat, and he definitely supported Doug Jones. He was a Schwarzenegger/Kizinger-style R for a long time, so if he's still an R, I imagine he's like that.
Thank you for the clarification. Well Kinzinger had some pretty bad votes, but I will take him now. He seems to have done a 180. Also, I respect that he (and Liz Cheney) were on the J6 Committee. They both knew the consequences and did it anyway.
He is registered Independent. https://nextimpulsesports.com/politics/charles-barkley-political-party-republican-democrat/
Thank you! Good for him.
Simon, thank you for the summary. So proud of Aftyn Behn. This seat is open again in a year and I hope Dems will make another hard run for it. Build on the good work that's been done.
I called Congressman Raskin and Senators Alsobrooks and Van Hollen.
The TN 07 election wasn’t great obvs because the GOP won, but was absolutely NOT TERRIBLE, because that’s a hell of a swing left and it confirms the consistency of the swing we’re seeing pro Dem.
That’s what, 40-60 seats in play next year? Redistricting isn’t going to save the GOP then and if anything, it may further hurt them with the dummymander.
Bringing the margins down from +22 to +9 is Fantastic! The quote from Simon this morning was "A swing half as large would give Democrats the U.S. House in 2026, and put the Senate clearly in play.” The WaPo link further emphasized the totality of the repub decline. "Republican strategists have worried for several months about Trump’s plummeting support among independent voters, which helped lead to blowout wins for Democrats in gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia last month."
Spot on! Aftyn Behn’s election performance in TN-07 is a political earthquake!
Made my calls to my Democratic elected folks in Washington emphasizing the need to speak loudly and lead on the bipartisan issues of Ukraine and our 80 year Western Alliance, and the lawlessness in the Caribbean. I asked for a no confidence vote. I look forward to being with you all in our weekly gathering tonight. Thank you for all you do!
Yesterday, the banner for my twice-weekly bridge protest in Austin, TX read, "We ain't buyin' it."
It's a saying that reminds people not to support corporations that support and encourage the policies of this administration. But it's also a great way to express the frustration that people feel as this administration hurts people's lives, destroys our democratic institutions, and lies to us and makes up excuses about what is happening. We ain't buyin' it!!!
The response from passing cars was very enthusiastic. Lots of horns blowing in unison, friendly waves , and thumbs up. They ain't buyin' it!!!
Can't wait to hear results of that "We Ain't Buyin' It" campaign on tomorrow's Indivisible weekly call!
ATX represent
Thank you, thank you 🙏🏻🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸!!
"Affordability doesn’t mean anything to anybody.”
Let’s hang that Trump quote like a putrid albatross around the neck of every Republican candidate in November 2026 – as well as in every single election between now and then!
Yes! How about with pictures of that woman dancing in a giant glass at the Mar-a-Lago party? I forget when that party was but it was just after the republicans announced a cut or Johnson wouldn't convene the House or I can't remember but it was outrageous. The Dems could take their pick. Too many for me to keep straight now.
Arctic, it was very gratifying to hear Rick Wilson (Lincoln Project co-founder) discussing how he’ll be featuring tRumpy’s “affordability” denial in upcoming ads.
https://www.lincolnsquare.media/p/trump-is-weaker-than-hes-ever-been
It kind of makes me smile to think of all those GOP pea-brains being asked a million times to explain why the leader of their party thinks affordability is a “hoax”.
Great summary as always. Sh*t is coming home to roost. Speaking of which, re our discussion about accountability hearings by Dems, NJ's own Sen. Andy Kim was on Coffee w the Contrarians this morning discussing corruption both at state level (he testified in Trenton on Monday) and federal, and why it's so corrosive. He posted a video a couple days back about the corruption of Orange regime, and tied all of it together very succinctly. He has some experience in doing this for regimes abroad as part of two administrations' national security teams, so he knows whereof he speaks.
Sen. Kim also said that he hosted town halls in NJ prior to Nov 4 election discussing the topic of regime corruption in detail, and said he is going to continue to do so. Also said this was going to be happening nationally. This is the first I've heard of this -- sounds like more shadow hearings/town halls are coming...
Video of discussion here: https://senatorandykim.substack.com/p/coffee-with-contrarians-and-sen-kim
Video on corruption here: https://youtu.be/2RGhENGKntQ?si=BMXG4iZwg_SKMOv3
Here in the Garden State, we worked really hard to get Sen. Kim elected to the House in 2018, and you may remember he won by about only 2k votes. I was part of a group that went into ruby red Ocean County to knock doors & get every last vote, & he flipped an R district! He was also the congressman who was photographed cleaning up the Capitol rotunda after 1/6. Since then, he hasn't slowed down--after declaring candidacy for open Senate seat after Menendez stepped down last year, he took on the NJ State Dems re corrupt ballot design and won! He is a soft-spoken man, but don't let that fool you. I for one would not mess with him--he brings the moral authority whenever he steps into a space.
Let's kick ass in Miami, friends - we can do it!
Keep going!
I listened to the interview. He’s measured and great.
I saw the his debate during the senate primary, and he was really good. I think I've heard him on PSA and another podcast I can't recall, also. I share your assessment. He's a badass. Thanks for sharing the links.
While I didn’t agree with Kim’s vote to confirm Noem, I understand the logic and, more importantly, continue to be so impressed by his service. I’ve listened to several tele-town halls and attended one in person last Spring. Andy Kim is a gem.
I didn’t agree w that vote either. 😎
Thanks for sharing the Coffee with Contrarians, I will def check it out. I also listened to the S4924 hearings in Trenton yesterday. What a mess. Maddening, and just so wrong how Andy and AG Platkin were treated.
Yep. Platkin is a rock star & a great human. Will be interested to see where he ends up after he leaves office.
Love that Aftyn Behn ran to win in a Trump +22 district. The best way to build a lasting majority is to concede no ground, and go into every race with the intent to win. She made a strong case for Dems/Anti-MAGA. She showed up for the people in her district. That's what it's going to take for several years.
As Chair of the DNC Ken Martin has said, the motto is "compete everywhere, win anywhere"
No more freebies for the GOP. They poured over 3 million into TN-07. A 13 point swing from 2024 is a good outcome, but I was hoping for more. Still as Simon says, you can't win them all, and this one did not really change the momentum.
What will help expand the momentum towards us is Trump's public naps. The thing about dementia is it gets worse and we are seeing that. It also tends to accelerate... i.e. get worse faster. If anyone just dropped into yesterday's televised cabinet meeting without any prior knowledge, they would clearly see that the leader is unfit for office. 25 47
I noticed that Trump’s post-stroke droop-face was on display again yesterday while he nodded off continually during the cabinet meeting. I think we can really put “Trump 2028” fears to rest, because he is clearly not going to make it that long. Even if he hasn’t passed on by that point, they’d have to just use AI videos of him for his campaign b/c he’d be incapable of going on his rally tours. And, yeah, presumably a lot of the MAGA the base would still vote for him, but he wouldn’t be able to pull together another gullible coalition like he did in Nov. ‘24. It’s just not happening.
We should also put the “there aren’t gonna be elections anymore” fears to rest, because if that were true, then TN 7 last night wouldn’t have even been a thing. Clearly, we are very much going to have midterms and the GOP is very much going to have to work to defend formerly “safe” and gerrymandered seats.
Called my senators and told them I want to see HR 6019 brought to a vote in the Senate and passed asap. No handouts for taxpayers, they always say. Well, no handouts for congresspersons either, then. Especially not the traitors.
"We should also put the “there aren’t gonna be elections anymore” fears to rest, because if that were true, then TN 7 last night wouldn’t have even been a thing. Clearly, we are very much going to have midterms and the GOP is very much going to have to work to defend formerly “safe” and gerrymandered seats."
1000000%.
Calls are in to WI members regarding our 5 part agenda. I sent an email our AG to thank him for standing up for the American people and our democracy.
What I can't get out of my head is that Trump used despicable, racist language yesterday calling Somalians "garbage" and JD Vance banged the table in agreement...not a word from any other Rs anywhere.
Stefanik is continuing her mean girl show and it is getting uglier and uglier..you have to go pretty far to offend Mike Johnson and she has done that! Not gonna work for her. Compare that to Sherrill and Spanberger who are bright, normal, women and who won convincingly.
Hyperbolic performative nonsense loses its effect when over and over again, you don't deliver for people. People gave Trump and MAGA the benefit of the doubt when they inherited Obama's good economy and could ride his coattails on that. Now that people are getting crushed by high costs made worse by his tariffs, and potentially higher insurance costs, and no answers for housing affordability, they'll have no tolerance for it.
How about Vance’s incessant scapegoating of immigrants for the housing crisis. He was doing that on the campaign trail in Nov. ‘24 too and has never quit.
Shortly after their election victory in Nov. ‘24, an anonymous “brown roundup” letter went around my local community. It said people needed to start taking notes of “brown” and Spanish-speaking locals, including where they are seen, license plate numbers, etc., to turn into the federal government once a tip line was set up. The letter went on to say that this would help the feds “round up” said people, take them to the “camps” in Texas, and then houses would be plentiful at affordable prices for white people here.
When a local Republican office-holder was asked about the letter, he said he didn’t know where that kind of hate or fear could come from. To which I was like, IT CAME FROM JD VANCE’S CAMPAIGN SPEECHES AND YOU KNOW IT!
Yet they are helping us build homes….
What must Usha Vance be thinking in her heart of hearts?!
somalians revitalized the city of lewiston maine, and led the school's soccer team to the state championship; there is a book about it. faced with racist taunts, the coach told them, just stuff some goals in the net and they will shut up. on snowy days, it was the somali players who showed up to shovel the pitch.
I would like there to be more words from Democrats on that! I called my MN Senators and asked them to speak up loudly to defend the Somali community and their colleague, Ilhan Omar. There's a lot of silence when people go after her. I said I was counting on the whole MN delegation to do so. I expect that Rep Craig will remain silent, but I hope I am wrong.
I’m curious to know if anyone has put forward an analysis about why polls showed a 2-point race that ended up being a 9-point race.
Maybe it was bc the Republicans put in more money and "the big guns" showed up to rally. Well, to be honest, Trump phoned it in while Johnson held the phone ... like the lap dog he is.
Maybe Simon will discuss this tonight: I believe I saw Tom Bonier on Bluesky, as well as other data experts in a Strength in Numbers thread, basically saying this TN election had surprisingly high turnout—maybe because both parties hyped it. In recent elections, Democrats have sometimes performed well in low turnout situations, due to voter enthusiasm. The TN one apparently resembled midterm turnout. The experts seem to think this should alarm Republicans more.
Why more?
R's can't claim (with a straight face) that it was just a bunch of hyper excited liberals who showed up in Nashville on a weird special election, and that they will do better under normal turnout. This was a high-turnout election, and it swung heavily in favor of the Democrats.
Democrats received a net 13-point shift in their favor by going from +22 down to only +8.9 in a deeply red CD. This emphasized how badly Republicans could lose in 2026.
Here is what Lisa Dejardin of PBS said about the projections. "A recent poll from Emerson College Polling/The Hill showed Democrats trailing in the special election by just 2 points. Both my Democratic and Republican sources say it does not reflect what they see internally. But the race is clearly closer than Trump’s 22-point margin in 2024. Democrats will be happy if they keep it within 10 points."
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/3-reasons-to-watch-tennessees-special-election
Polling is a snapshot, and it operates within a margin of error. Trends, not individual polls, are really more telling. So it's reasonable that there was a difference of 7-8 points from one poll to the other, esp. if the polling was done a while ago. Also, someone else mentioned turnout, that does play a role, esp. depending on whom they polled - likely voters or registered Dems.
Emerson discussed that results would depend heavily on turnout.
“ 'The special election in Tennessee’s 7th District will come down to what groups are motivated to turnout on election day, and who stays home,' Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said. 'Those who report voting early break for Behn, 56% to 42%, whereas those who plan to vote on Election Day break for Van Epps, 51% to 39%. Voters under 40 are Behn’s strongest group, 64% of whom support her, while Van Epps’ vote increases with age, to 61% of those over 70.'
'There is also a stark gender divide; men break for Van Epps by nine points, 51% to 42%, whereas women break for Behn by six, 50% to 44%' ”
https://emersoncollegepolling.com/tennessee-7th-district-2025-special-election-poll/
A comment from Shakespeare: “Macbeth doth kill sleep”. Apparently it’s a historical problem for traitors.
Today I have contacted my reps in DC to join in raising the alarm over the betrayal of Ukraine, NATO, Europe and America’s security. At the very least, Witkoff must be questioned by a committee and the interview must be made public.
Here is a copy of a letter that I sent by email to my members of Congress, both House and Senate:
This is the message I sent on Monday, December 1, 2025 and I am reminding you of what must be done now:
I wrote to you about laws being broken. I also told you we need to deal with ICE and the military being on our streets. They acted like a bunch of terrorists here in Charlotte, NC, rounding up people. Throwing people on the ground. This is outreagous.
You need to stand up for Ukraine and stop this assault by Putin. You need to deal with Donald Trump and his adminstration not standing up for our values.
You need to stop this assault on our health from Robert Kennedy, Jr. People will die if we abandon our scientific research and you will have children and elderly die from this stupidity and cruelty.
Here are five things you must do:
1. Stand with Ukraine and our European allies, and far more forcefully challenge Trump’s traitorous efforts to sell out the US and the West to Russia; demand Congress rebuke/issue a no confidence vote on his current efforts to force Ukraine to surrender
2. Congress must stand forcefully for rule of law in the Caribbean - these illegal strikes must end; no war can be waged without Congressional approval; there must accountability for those who have broken the law
3. Roll back Trump’s terrible, illegal tariffs that are re-igniting inflation, driving up prices, shifting the tax burden from the wealthy to working people, hurting small businesses and farmers, reviving tyrannical “taxation without representation,” and alienating governments and people throughout the world
4. Defend our democracy, rule of law, and our liberties by blocking the expansion of ICE; restoring due process for immigrants across the country; vigorously defending the 1st Amendment; warring against his outrageous targeting of his domestic political opponents; ending the use of the military on our streets and the unlawful occupation of our cities; stopping the unprecedented corruption; and by forcing the Administration to finally comply with Congress, end the rancid cover up, and release all of the Epstein files
5. Fight Trump’s war on science, higher education and our public health; reverse - not delay - the cuts to the ACA and Medicaid; support and co-sponsor Rep. Haley Stevens’ effort to Impeach and remove Robert Kennedy
Sincerely,
Matthew
Stealing this! Well done!
GOod job! I just did the exact same thing. THank you!!
This is great Matthew! Thank you🙏🏻🇺🇸🇺🇸
This is a good YouTube short done by Brett Meislas where he points out we wone a race in Roswell Georgia for Mayor for the pro democracy movement as well as we overprerformed the race in TN:
https://youtu.be/Z6zbBhGwYN8?si=_jIgI4a2gDWKOD9n
Called and left voicemails for my reps in my state legislature (who are team red) about Elaine Miles, the Native American tribal member born in Pendleton Oregon who was recently traveling in Redmond, Washington, when she got surrounded by armed masked men who were ostensibly ICE or Border Patrol. They demanded that she immediately prove lawful status and then told her that her tribal ID was fake.
This is why it is vitally important that the ICE facility not go in at the Newport airport. Already at least one Oregonian has been unlawfully detained and flown to an ICE detention facility in another state, incarcerated there, and then randomly let go and stranded in that other state with no way to get home. If we let an ICE facility go in at an airport here on the coast where we have multiple tribes, this could easily start happening to our own tribal members.
Our reps in the state legislature need to stand up for the dignity of their constituents who are tribal or otherwise non-white and for the sovereignty of the State of Oregon, to whom the basic police power rightfully belongs. We are not supposed to have armed, masked federal police randomly accosting US citizens and demanding they show their papers. That is not how a “free country” works.
Yesterday Sen. Murray spoke up about the treatment of Elaine Miles, a well-known actor.
https://bsky.app/profile/murray.senate.gov/post/3m72cp7oo6c2u
Not to put too fine a point on it, these ICE agents are ignorant lying assholes.