Real Blue

Maybe the Press Poodles could start asking what's wrong with a GOP that finds it so difficult to hold a seat in congress outside the friendly confines of Pokacuzzin West Virginia or Sisterfuck Arkansas*.

The Hill:

Democrat Jared Golden defeated incumbent Rep. Bruce Poliquin (R-Maine) in a ranked-choice runoff Thursday morning, more than a week after the election.

State election officials declared Golden the winner in Maine's 2nd District race shortly after noon on Thursday. It was the first use of ranked balloting in a congressional election, according to The Associated Press.

* thanks, Driftglass

Rawr

...it doesn't mean "I love you" in this case.

We always think we should wonder whether or not this kind of thing means something other than a FLOTUS getting her feathers a little ruffled by hard-ass political appointees telling her to do things that she really doesn't want to do, or treating her like she's just some ditzy broad (which, unfortunately, is the best bet) who is little more than arm candy for the boss.

WaPo:

A transoceanic personnel crisis that engulfed the National Security Council this week is partly rooted in a bureaucratic dispute over the seating arrangements aboard first lady Melania Trump’s plane to Africa last month during her maiden solo trip abroad.

As the East Wing prepared the flight manifest for the marquee trip, deputy national security adviser Mira Ricardel became angry that seats on the first lady’s government jet were assigned to a larger-than-usual security entourage and a small press corps with none for Ricardel or another NSC staffer, according to current U.S. officials and others familiar with the trip and its aftermath.

Policy experts from the NSC and State Department were advised to fly separately and to meet the first lady’s party on the ground, a practice the State Department had often used, but Ricardel objected strenuously, those people said. She threatened to revoke NSC resources associated with the trip, meaning no policy staff would advise the first lady during her visits to Ghana, Kenya, Malawi and Egypt.

Bad blood between Ricardel and Melania Trump and her staff continued for weeks after the trip, with the first lady privately arguing that the NSC’s No. 2 official was a corrosive influence in the White House and should be dismissed. But national security adviser John Bolton rebuffed the first lady and protected his deputy, prompting the first lady’s spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham, to issue an extraordinary statement to reporters Tuesday effectively calling for Ricardel’s firing.

“It is the position of the Office of the first lady that she no longer deserves the honor of serving in this White House,” Grisham said of Ricardel in the statement.

After an uncomfortable day of limbo, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders announced Wednesday evening that Ricardel was leaving the White House.

“Mira Ricardel will continue to support the President as she departs the White House to transition to a new role within the Administration,” she said in a statement.

An NSC spokesman declined to elaborate.

And the story just gets weirder as it goes - no real surprise there - but the upshot seems to be that Melania's telling John Bolton to go fuck himself.

Today's Quote

The gods that we've made are exactly the gods you'd expect to be made by a species that's about half a chromosome away from being chimpanzee.

--Christopher Hitchins

hat tip = DCRapier, Facebook

Today's Tweet

This one may require a new addition to the Daddy State Awareness Rules - I'll think on it.

1: Warning, heavy speculation below:

The currently unfolding Avenatti story, published by TMZ, has the indicators of reflexive control.

Make up a story, get him arrested, it’s true/false, doesn’t matter.

Reaction from social media: burn Avenatti. pic.twitter.com/wHZZBUGB6D

— Operation Wolverines 🇺🇸 (@OpWolverines) November 15, 2018

Deep Thoughts

The fatter you are, the more attractive the planet finds you.

Today's Tweet

Things change.

BREAKING: Democrat Josh Harder wins election to U.S. House in California's 10th congressional district. #APracecall at 6:20 p.m. PST. @AP election coverage: https://t.co/miEWlbTVZW #Election2018 #CAelection

— AP Politics (@AP_Politics) November 14, 2018

We can stop bitching at "the Democrats" for lacking a "unifying message" and for not presenting some kind of a consolidated agenda.

Fuck that shit.

Stop asking "why did Democrats win?" and start seeing why any individual candidate managed to pull it off given the uphill slog that Republicans have strewn with obstacles for us.

The Dems targeted 8 swing districts with GOP incumbents who've enjoyed large NRA support, ran candidates with strong Gun Safety messages, and they won all of them.

8 for 8. Every. Fucking. Race.

And no, it wasn't just because of the gun thing. There's always a multitude of factors, and voter demographic slices, and and and. But if there's a single overarching take-away, I have to say it was because DNC and the other Dem Party managers were smart and let each candidate go with their strength, and to run to their own constituencies' issues.

Get hip, people. Lock Step is what those other idiots do. We're not them.

It Is Our Lane

EveryTown:

Bottom Line: When it comes to gun violence against women, the United States is the most dangerous country in the developed world. Domestic violence affects millions of women across the country, and guns in the hands of domestic abusers can turn abuse into murder. Indeed, the presence of a gun in a domestic violence situation makes it five times more likely that the woman will be killed. And the deadly mix of guns and domestic violence is exacerbated by America’s weak gun laws: women in the U.S. are 16 times more likely to be shot and killed than are women in other developed nations.

Common sense laws that keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers–by requiring background checks for all gun sales and ensuring that prohibited abusers relinquish guns in their possession–just make sense. And for victims of domestic abuse, it’s a matter of life and death.

My ex shot my dad and me in front of own son. I’ve seen push back on my tweets from gun extremists. Disturbing. But, SO many amazing ppl have shown love & support. This is me leaving hospital w/ throbbing damaged hand. And my son. #ThisISMyLane pic.twitter.com/jsIyXj2EaN

— Kate Ranta (@ravinranta) November 14, 2018

Today's GOP

Hey, Repubs - we're really tired of working our ass off trying to get things squared away just to watch you guys come in and fuck it all up.

Pack your shit and get the fuck outa my government.

Sarah McGregor, Bloomberg:

The U.S. recorded a $100.5 billion budget deficit in October, an increase of about 60 percent from a year earlier, as spending grew twice as fast as revenue.

The deficit widened from $63.2 billion in the same month last year, the department said in an emailed statement on Tuesday. October marks the start of the U.S. fiscal year.

Receipts totaled $252.7 billion last month, up 7 percent from a year earlier, while outlays climbed 18 percent to $353.2 billion, according to the department.

A ballooning U.S. budget shortfall -- fueled by tax cuts, spending hikes and an aging population -- is driving the Treasury Department to raise its long-term debt issuance. Waning support for U.S. government debt from the Fed, combined with President Donald Trump’s deficit-boosting tax cuts, are weighing on the debt load that he inherited from Barack Obama.

In Trump’s first full fiscal year that ended in September, the budget gap grew to $779 billion, the highest level since 2012.

Today's Tweet

Told ya.

Let's summarize Trump's trip to Paris:
- sent rude tweets
- watched a parade
- skipped veterans day
- skipped visiting troops
- skipped meeting veterans
- sat in his hotel
- was mocked by world leaders
- skipped the peace summit
- met Putin
- left earlyhttps://t.co/h5Hg4NfEcr

— John Oberlin (@OMGno2trump) November 12, 2018

He Never Stops

I had to go and listen to the remarks.

"Inarticulate", and leaving normal people wondering "what the president stood for" is part of the plan.

You're not the one who's supposed to hear a message about what he stands for. There are plenty of rubes who heard his message 5-by-5.

At about 1:38 - "It is our duty to preserve the civilization they defended..." 

It never fails. He always makes it sound like "White Nationalism". And I don't think it sounds that way just because I'm listening for it.

Stephen Miller writes this shit for him, and there's no secret about where Mr Miller's head is at.