Thursday, November 12, 2026

Anthony Clark, Andrew Scott, Nathaniel Buzolic

Let's start with a passing.  Payton Turkeltaub (VARIETY) reports:

Anthony Clark, an actor and comedian best known for starring in six seasons of "Yes, Dear," died Tuesday. He was 62.
Clark's death was announced by his "Yes, Dear" co-star Mike O'Malley, who shared the news on Wednesday in a statement posted to X.
"Anthony Clark died yesterday. He was a hilarious guy," wrote O'Malley. "When my wife Lisa and I were dating back in the mid-nineties, Anthony was already famous in Boston, regularly selling out comedy shows. The first time we saw him at The Comedy Connection we laughed and laughed and laughed. He was so unique - one of those comics who is laughing along with you at the absurdity of his stories and observations."
He continued: "I was a fan before I was a friend. We spoke on the phone three weeks ago. He had us laughing loudly once again. Attached are some snapshots from our last episode of ‘Yes Dear' which ended twenty years ago after 122 episodes. Rest in peace. Tony."
"Yes, Dear" first aired on CBS in 2000, and starred Jean Lousia Kelly, Liza Snyder, Billy Gardell and Joel Homan in addition to Clark and O'Malley. The comedy followed two young couples and their contrasting views on parenting, per the show's official description. The fan-favorite show ran for six seasons, despite never garnering major acclaim among critics - back in 2005, in an article titled "Another year for ‘Yes, Dear'?" Variety wrote that the "little-comedy-that-could" was "making a strong play for another season" after "cheating death last year."

YES, DEAR was not really that good in its first season.  But it got better with each season.  I remember watching it because it was part of a line up the first season and thinking I wouldn't miss it when it was cancelled.  But season two got better and by season three it was a really good show.  I remember when Tim Conway and Vicki Lawrence would come on the show as guest stars.  Anthony Clark was very funny and I can remember when he was semi-outed.  He was gay, right? I remember The Hollywood Kids hinting about that back in the 90s.  It would explain why all the articles about Anthony's passing fail to mention any romantic partner.  You'd think, all these years later, they could mention relationships. 

With that in mind, let me note Jack Wetherill's report for PINK NEWS):

Andrew Scott has spoke about the pressures faced by gay actors, saying they were often offered a “silent choice” – that of being offered opportunities, as long as they hid their sexuality.
Speaking with Vogue, the 50-year-old said straight actors did not have to make the same sacrifice, though added: “I do feel that the playing field is starting to level out.”
On visibility and prejudice, Scott said: “There’s that great expression that prejudice doesn’t survive proximity. If you see people, you become less frightened of them.”
He also briefly touched on his own sexuality, saying: “Well it isn’t very interesting…”


Carly Thomas (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER) notes Kol from THE ORIGINALS and THE VAMPIRE DIARIES, actor Nathaniel Buzolic,  is accusing a former co-star of getting him shut out of convention appearances because he's pro-Israel and the one getting him shut out is supposedly pro-Palestinian.  Buzolic does himself no favors as he makes statements that come off racist. I had liked Kol on the show.  That's why I clicked on the article but reading his racist rant, I don't care for the actor.

Going out with C.I.'s "The Snapshot:"

Thursday, November 12, 2026.  Chump and his allies attempt to bully Congress with threats of prosecution for exercising the powers the Constitution grants Congress, Priss Pot Pete Hegseth disgraces himself in front of THE TOMB OF THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER, AG Toad Blanche gets smacked around by a judge over Blanche's inability to follow the law, and much more. 




Chump and his administration are attempting to bully the newly elected incoming Democratic majorities in the House and the Senate.  Ana Ceballos (LOS ANGELES TIMES) reports: 

The White House’s top lawyer is raising the possibility of criminal investigations into House Democrats, arguing that the inquiries they plan to open into President Trump and administration officials could themselves break the law.
Will Scharf, the White House counsel, made the warning in a letter dated Monday to Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Long Beach), who is in line to lead the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, when Democrats take control of the chamber in January.
“We are monitoring the abusive and capricious threats that are now proliferating from Democrat legislators who seek to abuse the legislative process to intimidate and to interfere with the lawful functioning of government,” Scharf wrote.

Monitor whatever you want, you freak, THE CONSTITUTION is the supreme law of the land and you're not only attempting to bypass it, you're also making legal threats in an attempt to intimidate.  If the Justice Dept had a real Attorney General -- and not fat boy Toad Blanche -- you might be facing a sit-down-and-come-to-Jesus moment.  Yesterday, the Democrats on the House Oversight Committee issued the following statement:

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, Rep. Robert Garcia, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, released the following statement after the White House sent a letter to Oversight Democrats threatening to infringe upon the Committee’s constitutionally protected right to conduct congressional oversight.
"It appears Donald Trump has something to hide. Let's be clear: Congress' authority comes from Article I of the Constitution, not from the permission of the White House. Congress has wide latitude to conduct investigations and oversight, an authority inherent in the power to legislate.
The American people voted overwhelmingly for us to pass laws to root out corruption and abuse. The Trump Administration continues to weaponize the government with threats of unconstitutional attacks on Congress. We are a co-equal branch of government and will not be deterred by baseless threats from a weaponized DOJ or from the President’s lawyers," said Ranking Member Robert Garcia.
###

As Mike noted last night the administration is staffed with bullies and you have to stand up to bullies. 









Some legal experts also criticized Scharf's letter Wednesday, with Deborah Pearlstein, director of Princeton University's Program in Law and Public Policy, describing it on Bluesky as "a particularly ham-fisted stab at intimidation" that's "worth the paper it's written on, not more."


Erik De La Garza (RAW STORY) notes legal expert Elie Honig's take: 

CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig delivered a blistering assessment Wednesday of the Trump administration’s attempts to portray congressional investigations by Democrats as potential criminal activity, calling the legal arguments advanced by two top administration lawyers "quite embarrassing."
"No, this is not a thing. No, this is not a crime. No, this is not anything even remotely close to a crime," Honig told CNN’s Brianna Keilar.
[. . .]
Honig said Democrats have discussed aggressively wielding subpoena powers after last week’s election victory, including promises to "throw subpoenas out like Mardi Gras beads."
But he flatly rejected suggestions that such rhetoric constitutes criminal threats or extortion.
“Not even close,” Honig said Wednesday. “All of this is core First Amendment protected political speech.” The CNN legal analyst and former federal prosecutor then took his criticism of the Trump administration a step further.
"It's actually quite embarrassing that experienced attorneys like Will Scharf and Todd Blanche are trying to say this is a crime," he added. "They have to know that it's not. This has to just be political posturing."


Accountability is long overdue.  Erin Banco and Jonathan Landay (REUTERS) report: 

Democrats in the US House of Representatives, who will control key committees next year, are preparing investigations into what they say was President Donald Trump’s politicization and gutting of US spy agencies, including whether analysts have censored themselves to avoid retaliation.
“There's absolutely evidence that analysts are hesitant to write on topics that they think might be controversial. There's absolutely evidence of a decline in morale in the analytic community because of the pressures that they are under,” US Representative Jim Himes, a Connecticut Democrat who will become chairman of the House intelligence committee in January, told Reuters on Tuesday.
There has been little scrutiny of the state of the US intelligence community by the Republican-run Congress during the first two years of Trump’s second term, during which the administration fired or forced out hundreds of officers and disrupted the production of analyses on key issues, including Iran.

That investigation might require testimony from former Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard who was last seen fleeing the administration right before it was revealed that as a member of Congress her controller was Guru Chris the head of her cult who regularly instructed her on how to vote and what to say publicly.  Banco and Landay note, "Former Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard last year cut her agency’s staff by about 40%."  


There is so much accountability that has been missing for the last two years.  Finya Swai (THE HILL) notes the journalist organization Reporters Without Borders:

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is urging the incoming Congress to impeach Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chair Brendan Carr, accusing him of undermining press freedom by punishing news outlets critical of President Trump and his administration.
The organization, which advocates for journalists worldwide, claimed Carr has repeatedly used the FCC’s regulatory authority to pursue politically motivated investigations and influence media mergers in ways that benefit Trump and his allies.
“Few individuals have been more instrumental to the White House’s campaign to weaken the First Amendment than Brendan Carr,” Clayton Weimers, the executive director of RSF North America, said in a statement.
This is the first time RSF has called for the removal of a U.S. official, a step the group said was warranted by what it described as Carr’s persistent abuse of power. The group cited several of Carr’s high-profile clashes with major broadcasters, including ABC, as examples of the FCC’s alleged use of regulatory threats to influence news coverage.

And two US senators have grave concerns about gifts to the Secretary of Health and Human Services.  Zachary Leeman (MEDIAITE) explains: 

Senate Democrats have launched a new probe into Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the lavish gifts he’s received from a donor, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Kennedy received a number of gifts from donor Gavin de Becker in 2025, including use of his yacht in a summer “funded” by de Becker, according to people familiar with the matter. Sailing around Greece in a donor’s yacht was a previously unreported gift. Democrats are currently probing $250,000 in gifts Kennedy reportedly received, which include about $45,000 in airfare and use of a Washington, D.C. home.
The yacht trip in Greece was not included in previous financial disclosures.
“It seems abundantly clear that Mr. de Becker is a prohibited source and that you are not permitted to accept gifts from him while you serve as Secretary,” Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD) wrote to Kennedy in a letter. “Even if you consider him a friend, your relationship is not purely personal.”

And along with gifts, he needs to be investigated for his actions.  Isabel van Brugen (DAILY BEAST) notes:

The U.S. could soon lose its official designation as a nation that has eliminated measles as outbreaks intensify under President Donald Trump’s health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Eight independent public health experts are meeting in Washington, D.C., this week to assess whether the country has experienced at least a year of uninterrupted measles transmission, the threshold for losing its elimination status.
The review comes as the U.S. faces its worst year for measles since 1991, raising scrutiny of Kennedy’s leadership and his efforts to reshape federal vaccine policy. Eight people have died from measles in the U.S. since the beginning of 2026, among them six in Pennsylvania, one in New York, and one in Wisconsin.
The panel advises the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the World Health Organization’s regional office. Its recommendations will inform a final decision by the PAHO director.
The U.S. achieved measles elimination in 2000 following decades of vaccination efforts. International travel and growing vaccine hesitancy are thought to be behind its resurgence.
Kennedy, who leads the administration’s Make America Healthy Again initiative, has repeatedly cast doubt on vaccine safety. Since taking office last January, he has continued to promote misleading claims, including that the measles vaccine contains “aborted fetus debris.”


Meanwhile, Cross-Eyed Victoria Foxx looks closer and closer to losing the seat in Congress that has contained her bigoted butt for 11 terms. Luciana Perez Uribe Guinassi, Esther Frances and  Ronni Butts (THE STATE) reports: 

Republican U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx narrowly trails her Democratic challenger after county election boards reviewed and counted more ballots in North Carolina.
The lead flipped back and forth Tuesday, as counties posted provisional ballot counts, but Chuck Hubbard’s lead ultimately stretched to 335 votes, extending his 99-vote lead from election night.
That 0.12% difference is well within the 1% margin for Foxx to request a recount. The candidates could also file formal challenges if they believe the vote count includes ineligible voters.



A Democrat is close to flipping a staunchly red district in North Carolina after he decided to run for office to fight for the rights of his LGBTQ+ daughter.
With more than 95% of votes counted, Chuck Hubbard currently leads 11-term anti-LGBTQ+ incumbent Virginia Foxx (R) by 325 votes in North Carolina’s Fifth Congressional District. According to NBC News, Foxx would need to win 64.3% of the remaining vote to catch up to Hubbard. S he beat Hubbard by 19 points in 2024.
A moving video of Hubbard at a town hall shows him explaining why LGBTQ+ issues are among the closest to his heart.
“The day Trump was elected the first time,” he said, “My daughter, Meredith, called me… crying and said, ‘Dad, every bit of progress we ever made is gonna be taken away from us. These people hate me… and they’re coming after me.'”
“That’s about as important as it gets,” he continued. “So I will do whatever, whenever, however I can to protect the LGBTQ community and make sure that they’re not bullied. Everybody deserves to be able to live their lives the way they want. You don’t get to tell me who to love. You don’t get to tell me how to dress, who to associate with, how to speak. These are core issues in the United States and the LGBTQ community. With MAGA folks in control, believe me, they are under threat.”


Cross-eyed Virginia may be out of Congress.  And we can all be thankful for that. 


A Democrat in the House who needs calling out?  Pete Aguilar.  Arthur Delaney (HUFFINGTON POST) reports that Aguilar is insisting that the 11 missing Democrats Tuesday when the vote to impeach Priss Pot Pete Hegseth would not have mattered had they been there:

“It’s disappointing, but even if we were at full attendance, it wouldn’t have changed the result,” the House Democratic Caucus chairman told HuffPost on Wednesday. 
The House approved a procedural motion to kill the impeachment resolution by referring it to a committee by a vote of 211 to 204, with 11 Democrats and seven Republicans missing the vote.
If the 11 Democrats had showed up, they could have given Democrats enough votes to defeat the resolution. But in that scenario, Aguilar said, Republicans would simply have held the vote upon until their absent members could be rounded up. 
“If everybody showed up on both sides, it still wouldn’t have impacted it. If only the Democrats showed up, Republicans would have held it open for a while,” Aguilar said. 

If everybody showed up on both sides?  I'm not worried about the Republicans.  I want to see the Democrats deliver.  And they didn't on Tuesday and there's no excuse for 11 of them missing the vote.  Had they shown up, they would have voted.  But they didn't show up.  And that reflects poorly on the Democrats and it reflects especially poorly on Hakeem Jeffries who wants to be the next Speaker of the House but who couldn't even get all the Dems to show up for the vote.  And he also didn't stall to buy the Dems time to get there.  But even Aguilar states that if the Dems has arrived the "Republicans would simply have held the vote until their absent members could be rounded up."  I don't doubt him that the GOP might have tried to hold it up.  But, again, that's what Hakeem should have been doing -- holding up the vote until the 11 Dems arrived. He didn't do that either.

We went from last week when voters delivered for the Democratic Party and gave them control of both houses and woo-hoo let's celebrate to the first vote that matters and the Dems lose because 11 of them didn't show up to vote.  That is not a good look and Aguilar looks like an idiot trying to mealy mouth it when he should be calling it out.  

Again, the American people have put their trust in the Democratic Party.  Before the new members are even sworn in, the party is already a disappointment. This cannot continue.





Democrats, fresh off their sweeping victories in last week’s elections, faced bitter criticism and recriminations on Wednesday from within their own ranks after 11 of their members missed a vote on the impeachment of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

The absences, which boosted Republicans’ successful effort to block the impeachment on Tuesday, cast a shadow over what was otherwise a triumphant week for Democrats that was supposed to be focused on savoring their electoral wins, welcoming new members and plotting out their agenda for when they take the helm of both chambers of Congress.

Instead, Representative Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, the No. 2 Democrat in charge of tracking votes among her members, began a closed-door party meeting on Wednesday morning scolding lawmakers who had been absent for the impeachment vote, as others chastised their colleagues in public.

“Show up and do your job,” Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed, Democrat of Michigan, said bluntly on CNN Tuesday evening.

Representative Sydney Kamlager-Dove, Democrat of California, appeared to be seething as she left the Capitol following the vote Tuesday night, telling the MeidasTouch Network that Democrats had squandered the opportunity to push the impeachment charges forward over Republican opposition. “People should have gotten their raggedy selves up these steps to vote,” she said.


As shameful and embarrassing as that vote was for House Democrats, Priss Pot Pete brought more shame on the office of Sectary of Defense yesterday.














In commemoration of Veterans Day today, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth visited the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, a monument that honors unidentified American service members who died in war.

Video captured Hegseth’s group of five people laughing near the monument. In response, one of the elite soldiers — tasked with helping maintain decorum at the monument literally 24 hours a day, 365 days a year — then turned and yelled to Hegseth’s group, “All visitors will maintain an atmosphere of silence and respect at all times!” The video clip of the interaction was broadcast nationwide by CNN.



Turning to Chump's old roll dog Jeffrey Epstein, the dead sex trafficker and pedophile remains in the news.  Caitlin Yilek (CBS NEWS) reports: 

Republican Rep. Thomas Massie has secured enough support to force a vote on legislation that would compel the release of the remaining Justice Department files related to Jeffrey Epstein. 
Massie launched a discharge petition over the summer to circumvent leadership and force a vote on the bill, known as the Epstein Files Transparency Act II. 
In order to bring the legislation to the floor, the discharge petition needs 218 signatures. It hit that threshold Wednesday. Four Republicans, including Massie, and all Democrats have added their names. The other Republicans who signed on are Reps. Brian Fitzgerald of Pennsylvania, Nancy Mace and Ralph Norman, both of South Carolina. 

Why do we need this?  Didn't The Epstein Transparency Act that passed both houses of Congress and was even signed by Chump call for all documents to be released?  Yes, it did.  But AG Toad Blanche doesn't follow the law.  He does what he wants and breaks the law.  He's withheld millions of pages.  So now Congress is going to attempt a new act of Congress to force him to follow the law.    

This as a judge is also attempting to do the same.  Brett Meiselas (MEIDASTOUCH NEWS) notes:

A federal judge has ordered Attorney General Todd Blanche to release previously unpublished handwritten FBI interview notes involving allegations of sexual abuse against Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein, delivering one of three significant rulings in MeidasTouch host Katie Phang’s lawsuit over the Trump administration’s handling of the Epstein files.
Senior U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan issued three orders on November 9, rejecting the Justice Department’s attempt to delay producing records explaining its Epstein-files decisions, requiring a sworn accounting of foreign-language documents, and directing the publication of FBI notes that the department has withheld from public view.
The rulings represent another significant development in Phang’s legal effort to force the Justice Department to comply with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which required the attorney general to make covered unclassified Justice Department records public within 30 days of its November 19, 2025 enactment.
Nearly 11 months later, the department is still fighting over records that Phang argues should have been released long ago.












Let's wind down with this from Senator Elizabeth Warren:

Video of Remarks (YouTube)

Washington, D.C. — At the 2026 Popular Mandate conference, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) urged Democrats to deliver on the populist economic policies that led them to an historic victory in the 2026 midterm election last week.

“Democrats won – and won big – by recognizing Americans’ economic pain, denouncing Washington corruption that has made a rigged economy worse, and pledging to upend this system,” said Senator Warren. “That is a powerfully important lesson going into this next Congress and the next presidential primary in 2028.”

Senator Warren pointed to the evidence that populism won across the country, including Senators-elect James Talarico, Sherrod Brown, Adam Hamilton, Abdul El-Sayed, Troy Jackson, Peggy Flanagan, and Julianna Stratton.

  • In Texas, James Talarico said bluntly that “the system is rigged” and pledged support for Senator Warren’s bipartisan bill with Republican Senator Josh Hawley to break up big medicine.
  • In Ohio, Sherrod Brown channeled voter fury against AI data centers and said, “A handful of corrupt billionaires think they can buy power and keep this rigged system working in their favor… We’re proving that our voice is louder than their money.”
  • In Kansas, Adam Hamilton won by calling for cracking down on corporate price gouging, stopping data centers from jacking up utility bills, and expanding Medicare.
  • In North Carolina, Roy Cooper rolled out an ad in the final weeks saying he would, “fight the insurance companies and take on the utility monopolies.”
  • In Iowa, Josh Turek put forward a serious plan to scrap the cap to tax the richest Americans so we can extend Social Security.
  • In Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed defended one of the most vulnerable Senate seats on the map with a full-on embrace of Medicare for All, a wealth tax for billionaires, and universal child care.

Senator Warren also laid out the task ahead, saying, “There are two massive barriers for Democrats to enact the change people want: First, the Senate filibuster. And second, Trump’s potential veto. But here’s the good news: we have tools to get where we need to be.”

She pointed to several ways Congress can make inroads now, including:

  • Working with President Trump and Republicans if they’re willing to deliver for families;
  • Pushing policies through reconciliation and spending bills “to pass big chunks of legislation that would improve people’s lives without a single Republican vote;”
  • Challenging Trump and Republicans to oppose popular legislation to crack down on Trump’s corruption;
  • And “hold(ing) Donald Trump and his cronies accountable for ripping off the American people.”

“Democrats are determined to make this economy and this government work for hard working people, and we have a plan for that: Part One: win the midterms. Part Two: Deliver big change. The time for Democrats to fight hard and produce results is now,” Senator Warren concluded in the speech.

Transcript: Senator Warren’s Speech at Popular Mandate Conference
November 10, 2026
As Prepared for Delivery 
Senator Elizabeth Warren: 

Intro

Thank you, Lindsay! It’s great to be with so many friends here at Popular Mandate!

One week after the 2026 midterms, the results are clear: Democrats won by fighting for populist economic policies.

In the most competitive 2026 races, in blue, purple, and red states, including places like Texas, Kansas, and South Carolina, Democrats won – and won big – by recognizing Americans’ economic pain, denouncing Washington corruption that has made a rigged economy worse, and pledging to upend this system.

That is a powerfully important lesson going into this next Congress and the next presidential primary in 2028. 

Recall how Donald Trump swept back into power in the first place. Sure, I get it, lots of dog whistles and ugly stuff, but that wasn’t all. Trump promised he would lower costs “on Day 1.” Every day, over and over again,Trump got out and bragged that he would quote “end inflation and make America affordable again.” In his first major interview after the election, Trump said, “I won on groceries. Very simple word, groceries.” 

Of course, Trump’s promises were empty. Instead of helping working people, Trump and Congressional Republicans took a wrecking ball to our economy, saying yes, yes, yes to every disastrous plan that he put in place. 

  • Cutting health care to finance tax breaks for rich people and giant corporations. 
  • Imposing chaotic and illegal tariffs. 
  • Launching a forever war. 

Every one of those actions increased the cost of nearly everything for American families. 

While he has been breaking the economy for regular people, Trump and his buddies have run the most corrupt administration in modern US history. Trump has turned the federal government into a corruption machine designed to rake in profits for himself, his family, and his cronies—and make everyone else pay the bill. 

Gas prices over $5 a gallon. Ground beef prices spiking to more than $7 a pound. Inflation surging from the one-two-punch of Trump’s trade wars and Iran war. Mortgage rates above 7 percent. Credit card interest and car loans squeezing families hard. 

But not everyone has felt the pressure. Corporate profits have skyrocketed to record levels while the share of income going to workers crashed to an all-time low. 

Given the economic disaster that Trump unleashed, many DC pundits want to chalk up this election to nothing more than a referendum on the Republican Party, because of Trump’s failures on inflation and Iran. And yes, this is surely part of the story. 

But those failures have a name – affordability. When the President said high prices mattered to him, he won. When he drove up prices and enriched himself instead of addressing those high costs, he lost. 

In the wake of these historic wins, now is the time to listen to voters. It’s time to be clear-eyed about what voters heard – and liked – from winning candidates. 

Populism Wins – Evidence 

I’m going to focus on the Senate races, because that’s where I’ve put a lot of my efforts over the past two years – and where Democrats performed better than anyone thought was possible. 

First, all kinds of Democrats who won were straightforward about the fact that the economy is rigged against working people. And they didn’t pull punches about whose fault that is. 

Take James Talarico, the first Democratic senator from Texas in thirty years. Week after week on the trail, Talarico said bluntly that “the system is rigged.” In the final stretch of his campaign, he called out Elon Musk for trying to buy a Senate seat. Talarico won by over 10 points – in Texas. The future governor of Texas, Gina Hinojosa, made a similar argument. She said, quote “The one fight in this country is about economic power.” 

In Ohio, my friend Sherrod Brown channeled voter fury against AI data centers. And when crypto bros and Big Tech billionaires tried to buy this Senate seat for the Republicans, Sherrod didn’t mince words. He said, “A handful of corrupt billionaires think they can buy power and keep this rigged system working in their favor, ”We’re proving that our voice is louder than their money.” And Sherrod was right. 

In Kansas, yes, Kansas, Adam Hamilton won by calling for cracking down on corporate price gouging, stopping data centers from jacking up utility bills, and expanding Medicare. And by the way, speaking of Kansas, Dr. Roger Marshall lost because voters rejected him nickeling and diming his struggling patients. It was a stark contrast that made clear which candidate would fight for you. 

Every winner made these arguments and made them loudly – Abdul El-Sayed, Troy Jackson, Peggy Flanagan, Juliana Stratton – the list goes on and on. Many of them did so in their primaries as well, beating DC establishment candidates who were just too damn timid to call out the rich and powerful. 

Now, you might be thinking that the rhetoric was fiery, but that doesn’t mean this is actually a different breed of Democrats headed to Washington. And in fact, there are some self-titled “strategists” in our party who are happy to have Democrats rail against billionaires at their rallies – but they expect softer, more middle-of-the-road, corporate-friendly economic policies once in office. According to this logic, it’s fine to call yourself a populist if it helps you win in the general election, but don’t rock the boat so much that you tip your wealthy donors or rich CEO buddies into the water. 

If we want a clue as to what these voters actually want from Congress, just look at what the winners actually promised to do. 

For the first time in over a decade, North Carolina will have a Democratic Senator. Roy Cooper’s campaign slogan was “Make Stuff Cost Less.” His ad in the final weeks said he would  “fight the insurance companies and take on the utility monopolies.” And Roy isn’t playing a part. He is a seasoned former attorney general, and his campaign plan to lower grocery prices called for blocking anti-competitive mergers and stopping companies from using algorithms to fix prices for food—pretty specific plans to favor customers over corporations. 

Also, for the first time in 18 years, Iowa will have a Democratic Senator: self-described prairie populist Josh Turek. Josh believes that (quote) “health care is a human right.” He proudly calls himself a moderate Democrat. And he is. But this moderate Democrat made clear he’s ready to fight the powerful on behalf of the people of Iowa. He’s ready to fight the monopolies that own your health insurance, your pharmacy, and your PBM. He’s talked about breaking up Big Ag monopolies and the right to repair your own stuff. And with cuts to Social Security looming, he put forward a serious plan to scrap the cap to tax the richest Americans so we can extend Social Security in the future. Strong—and very specific. 

James Talarico pledged support for my bipartisan bill with Republican Senator Josh Hawley to break up big medicine. Mary Peltola promised to ban price gouging and called to (quote) “block anti-competitive mergers that let grocery chains … (that) drive up prices.” Abdul El-Sayed criss-crossed Michigan and defended one of the most vulnerable Senate seats on the map with a full-on embrace of Medicare for All, a wealth tax for billionaires, and universal child care. 

Populism Wins – Private Equity in Housing 

I want to spend a minute telling you about one of my very favorite issues out on the campaign trail this year, because it offers an insight into what’s going on. 

One of the biggest economic issues in these elections was housing. Last summer, Congress passed the biggest housing affordability legislation in 30 years. It’s a terrific bill with dozens of provisions designed to build more housing and lower costs. But here’s my favorite part: the new law also stops private equity and these Wall Street investors from buying up huge numbers of homes. The idea is simple: homes are for families, not corporations. As we got to the final passage of the Housing bill, there was a big fight inside the beltway to get that provision into the housing bill, and to keep it there. But in the real world, out on the campaign trail, in high school gymnasiums and parking lot rallies, the cheers for dumping private equity were long and loud. The private equity portion of the bill was the most remembered and most beloved. 

In the final stretch of the midterms, candidates have debates. And one common gotcha question is: you’re a Democrat, so what do you agree with Trump on? Two answers in two states were exactly the same. Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan and Josh Turek in Iowa both said they agree with Donald Trump that we should get private equity out of housing. Shazam! 

This issue of private equity in housing caught fire in competitive races, including many House races. In New Mexico, Gabe Vasquez pushed back against private equity buying up manufactured housing. In Florida, Darren Soto made sure the Orlando voter guide included his vote in support of stopping “hedge funds from buying up many single-family homes.” In Iowa, Christina Bohannan told the Des Moines Register that she will take on corporate price gouging, including “the private equity firms that are buying up Iowa properties.” 

But that’s not all. Adam Hamilton and Annie Andrews, two of the biggest underdog races in the county, both campaigned on going even further to rein in private equity. They looked at the bill we passed in the summer and said, “Hey, that’s pretty good, but we should do more.” And they are right. Congress should do more to stop Wall Street from buying up homes and private equity’s looting. 

The Task Ahead 

So yes, we won big by naming what is wrong and convincing voters that we would take on a rigged system in order to fix it. 

But here’s the thing. It would be a tremendous breach of faith with the people who voted for us to spend the next two years ahead of the 2028 election railing against Trump and waiting for a future Democratic trifecta to deliver meaningful change. 

Democrats must spend the next two years fighting to deliver for working people now. Yes, even with Donald Trump in the White House. 

There are two massive barriers for Democrats to enact the change people want: First, the Senate filibuster. And second, Trump’s potential veto. But here’s the good news: we have tools to get where we need to be. 

First, I’m ready to team up with any Republican who’s heard the American people loud and clear. 

  • If Trump is serious about lowering costs, then let’s take him up on his promise to cap credit card interest rates and save families hundreds of dollars. 
  • Trump says he supports cracking down on corporate healthcare middlemen – we’ve got a bipartisan bill to get it done. 
  • Protect Social Security from benefit cuts? I have a plan with Republican Senator Moreno to force billionaires to pay into Social Security at the same rate as a public school teacher, making the program solvent for a generation. 
  • And now is the time for Congress to expand on our bipartisan ROAD to Housing bill and pass additional legislation to build more homes. 

Ready to go, Mr. President. Tell your Congressional team, and we’ll get this done. 

But hear this: if Republicans won’t join us, Democrats will move ahead without them. 

The reconciliation process allows us to pass big chunks of legislation that would improve people’s lives without a single Republican vote. Reverse the health care cuts the Republicans put in place, expand health care coverage, and fund universal childcare – all with a 51-vote majority in the Senate. And, to pay for it, we can start by reversing the tax breaks Trump and the Republicans handed out to millionaires and billionaires – again with 51 votes. A Democratic majority in Congress can also send the president a resolution that revokes his authority to wage war in Iran – again with 51 votes. 

And let’s not forget one of our most powerful tools: Democrats have power on spending bills that require our votes, and we should use it. No more funding for a forever war with Iran. Cancel the looming cuts to health insurance and nutrition benefits put in place by Republicans last summer. 

Next, where Democrats agree reconciliation is not an option, like with bills to ban stock trading by federal officials or crack down on Trump’s corruption in plain sight, Democrats should put the bills up for a vote. Let the Republicans decide if they want to stay tied to such corruption and, if they do, then let’s clear away Senate filibuster rules and pass the laws anyway. 

Look, I get it. These bills could still face a veto from Donald Trump. But for me, that’s not enough reason not to try. Democrats must deliver popular, meaningful legislation to Trump’s desk and dare him to veto it. 

  • Dare him to veto an increase in the minimum wage for hard-working Americans. 
  • Dare him to veto a ban on price gouging. 
  • Dare him to veto a ban on AI surveillance pricing. 
  • Dare him to veto a ban on stock trading 
  • Dare him to veto legislation that gets money out of politics so no one can buy our democracy. 

You can’t win what you don’t fight for. And if we don’t fight – if we hang back and sand down the edges of our economic agenda or trim our ambitions because we’re worried about what rich donors or giant corporations might think – then shame on us. I have already heard some Democrats accept defeat before we even tried fighting for progress. That breaks faith with the people who sent us here. Change can’t wait. We must deliver now. 

Finally, accountability. Congress has the power to hold Donald Trump and his cronies accountable for ripping off the American people to make themselves richer. Under the Trump Administration, the corruption has been massive—beyond anything seen in American history. 

Accountability is coming. If you’re a Wall Street executive, Big Tech CEOs, giant corporations that have been cheating people, you should be worried. And government officials who have put their own interests ahead of the public interest, should be worried too.

Democrats are determined to make this economy and this government work for hard-working people, and we have a plan for that: Part One: win the midterms. Part Two: Deliver big change. The time for Democrats to fight hard and produce results is now. 

###




The following sites updated:

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Wednesday, November 11, 2026

THE WIZARD OF OZ, Stacy Keach, OVERCOMPENSATING

THE WIZARD OF OZ is a classic that airs multiple times a year these days.  It wasn't always that way.  My cousin Marcia is a few years older than me.  She's part of the last generation that got THE WIZARD OF OZ once a year on TV.  Angela Andaloro (PEOPLE) notes: 

The Wizard of Oz had seen some success in theaters, but bringing the magical film to TV changed everything for the classic.
In 1956, CBS bought the rights to air the 1939 Oscar-winning film, which had been a box-office success but was not expected to recoup its production costs. The film centered on Dorothy’s (Judy Garland) journey through the magical land of Oz, which involved elaborate, colorful sets that helped make it MGM’s most expensive film ever, with its production budget alone reaching $2.77 million.
The Wizard of Oz earned about $3 million during its initial theatrical run against a production budget of roughly $2.7 million to $2.77 million, resulting in an initial net loss of over $1 million for MGM.
The first telecast aired on Nov. 3, 1956, in a two-hour special, hosted by actor Bert Lahr, who played the Cowardly Lion. It was the only time that an actor who appeared in the film would introduce it for broadcast. A 10-year-old Liza Minnelli, daughter of star Judy Garland, also made an appearance on the special, an expanded episode of Ford Star Jubilee.

And then three years later, it became an annual broadcast on CBS.   Mark Kennedy (AP) notes a passing:

Stacy Keach, one of America's finest stage actors who became best known for playing scruffy private eye Mike Hammer on TV and whose career was nearly derailed after he was imprisoned in 1984 for trying to smuggle cocaine into Britain, died Tuesday. He was 85.
Keach died at home in Magdalenka, Poland, “after a long and difficult battle with a serious heart condition and heart failure,” his wife, Malgosia Tomassi Keach, said in a statement. Keach had previously suffered a heart attack onstage in Chicago in June 2017.
Though he was considered a preeminent interpreter of Shakespeare and a favorite of such legendary directors as John Huston, Keach was indelibly linked with his take on the hard-boiled Hammer, the fictitious TV private detective created by crime novelist Mickey Spillane.
Unwilling to do the same thing over and over, Keach left behind a crazy quilt of roles, playing a stoner cop on film, King Lear onstage and also narrating “World's Most Amazing Videos” on TV. He played a deranged colonel in “The Ninth Configuration” (also known as “Twinkle, Twinkle Killer Kane”), led the TV show “Titus," had a role in Alexander Payne’s Oscar-nominated drama “Nebraska,” and played a New York archbishop in a recurring role on the CBS police drama “Blue Bloods.” Last year, he had an excellent turn as George Clooney's bitter father in “Jay Kelly.”


There's a spoiler for VISIONQUEST online.  I'm not linking to it.  I've enjoyed each episode and will watch the finale shortly.  If you want, you can Google it but I'm not putting it in here.  Rosy Cordero (DEADLINE) notes another series:

Benito Skinner and the gang from Prime Video’s Overcompensating have finally set a date for its Season 2 premiere: February 17. All eight episodes of the comedy series will be available to binge on premiere day.
From creator, writer, executive producer, and star Skinner, Overcompensating is a college-set ensemble comedy about the wild, chaotic journey of Benny (Skinner), a closeted former football player and homecoming king, as he navigates college and his own identity with his best friend Carmen (Wally Baram), and the guidance of his older sister (Mary Beth Barone).

That's something to look forward to. OVERCOMPENSATING was a rare hit for PRIME.  

Going out with C.I.'s "The Snapshot:"


Wednesday, November 11, 2026.  The Chump economy continues to falter, did ICE lose an eight-year-old boy, with over 10,000 attorneys in the Justice Dept having quit under Chump there are no longer enough attorneys to send to all court proceedings, Senator Patty Murray informs Chump that Congress is not his Customer Service Line, Priss Pot Pete survives the impeachment vote, that makes Hakeem Jeffries the real loser and begs questions of whether or not he's fit for the post of Speaker of the House. 


REUTERS notes, "US consumer prices  increased more than expected in October, leaving the Federal  Reserve on course to raise interest rates next month.  The Consumer Price Index rose 0.4% last month after advancing 0.6% in September, the Labor Department's Bureau of  Labor Statistics said on Tuesday. Economists polled by Reuters  had forecast the CPI climbing 0.3% over the month."  Jeffry Bartash (MARKETWATCH) adds, "The cost of goods -- minus food and energy -- rose 0.7% in the 12 months ended in September. That might not sound like much, but goods prices fell in most years in the decade before the pandemic.  Goods prices were also falling, not rising, before the Trump administration in the spring of 2025 put in place in the biggest tariffs since World War II."  And zooming in on food prices, Jeff Cox (CNBC) explains, "Food costs accelerated 0.5%, pushed higher by increases of 1% for snacks, 0.9% for beef and 0.5% for meats, poultry, fish and eggs. Transportation services jumped 0.8%. New vehicle prices increased 0.2% but used cars and trucks fell 1.2%."  Steve Benen (MS NOW) offers this context:

As Election Day got underway last week, Donald Trump conducted a phone interview with Fox News, apparently hoping to make one last pitch to voters who might make up their mind at the last minute. As part of the president’s message, he boasted, “The inflation is solved.”
The rhetoric wasn’t true, but it was familiar. In fact, Trump spent the months leading up to the midterm elections repeatedly telling Americans, “Prices are coming down,” even as prices went up.
The election cycle has largely run its course, though the economic problems that plagued the White House before ballots were cast continue to persist in the election’s wake.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ inflation report released Tuesday, the consumer price index showed consumer prices climbing 0.4% in October, which was slightly worse than expected. (Ordinarily, these reports show year-over-year changes, but a government shutdown from last fall makes this impossible.) What’s more, core prices, which strip out volatile food and energy items, increased 0.3%, which was also worse than expected.
Prices, in other words, are most certainly not “coming down,” and inflation does not appear to have been “solved.”

What do you know, Chump lied again.  And it's the American people who are suffering. So it's not at all surprising to learn that Chump's approval ratings remain in the toilet.  Sam Stevenson (NEWSWEEK) reports: 

President Donald Trump is not only facing a more hostile Congress after his party’s midterm election drubbing but also fresh evidence of discontent among American voters, according to new national polling.
In its first post-election poll, the Economist/YouGov series has found the president 26 points underwater, with 36 percent approving of his job performance and 62 percent disapproving, a seven-point deterioration from the pollster’s final survey before Election Day.
That shift could be significant for Republican lawmakers deciding how closely to align themselves with a president whose core supporters remain loyal but whose broader standing could complicate the party’s recovery.
In a previous emailed response to Newsweek about Trump’s polling, White House spokesperson Davis Ingle pointed to the president’s 2024 election victory, calling it “the ultimate poll.” 

But, Davis Ingle, that was two years ago.  The new "ultimate poll" was the midterms -- excuse me, the historic midterms.  If you're not familiar with them, Davis Ingle, Cameron Adams (DAILY BEAST) describes them like this, "Donald Trump and his administration received a stunning rebuke after last week’s elections, losing control of the House and the Senate and affecting the final term of his presidency."  And, Davis Ingle, the American people have spoken.  I noted this excuse of the 2024 vote being the national poll was going to have to come to an end -- noted it last week -- and it does have to come to an end.  

Brian O’Connell (MONEYWISE) notes another really bad poll for Chump:

Americans have the dimmest view of the U.S. economy — and how the federal government is handling it — in 48 years. That’s not good news for Republicans and President Donald Trump, who have been the stewards and strategists of the U.S. budget and economics for the past two years.
The data comes from the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index, which labor economist Kathryn Anne Edwards shares in a recent social media post.
Edwards notes that, from 1978 through 2024, approximately half of Americans said the government was doing a “fair job” in running the economy. As of 2026, however, that outlook has changed. Edwards reports that “31% of Americans said the federal government is doing a poor job at economic policy [and] for the last two years, it has averaged 65% and is hanging out now in the 70s.”



Chump's also done a lousy job at the Iran War.  Starting it for this reason or that reason -- never sticking with one reason for very long; refusing to go before the American people and press and take questions (he taped a video that then aired in the early morning hours).  The American people do not support this ongoing war.  Mira Bhakta (THE HILL) notes, "A majority of Republicans in a recent survey said they want Congress to end the Iran war, which has stretched into its eighth month and increased gas and grocery prices. The Reuters/Ipsos poll, released Tuesday, found that 71 percent of respondents support legislation to end the Middle East conflict. This included 93 percent of Democrats and 51 percent of Republicans."  And Priss Pot Pete Hegseth has been the face of the war for the administration.  This has led to US House Rep Thomas Massie introducing articles of impeachment.  Harry Thompson (THE DAILY BEAST) notes: 


No voice has been louder in calling for Hegseth to go than Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who initiated impeachment proceedings against the former Fox News host in September and renewed them Monday.  
He filed eight articles of impeachment, linked to various incidents including the destruction of alleged drug boats and the treatment of Sen. Mark Kelly. Hours later, Massie appeared on CNN’s The Source with Kaitlan Collins, where he broke down the articles and made his bold prediction: that Hegseth will be gone by the end of the year.
Trump has said he will stand by Hegseth regardless of the impeachment, and when Collins asked Massie what he thought of that, he said, “They stand by them until the day they don’t. You can’t expose any weakness in these press conferences. And I still put it at a high probability that Pete Hegseth won’t make it until December 31 of this year.”
He added, “I think there’s a high probability he will not make it to the end.”

In an attempt to save his own hide, Priss Pot Pete held a press briefing yesterday -- his first in 189 days.  Before the press briefing, Prissy Pete had his flunkies hand down rules.  Nick Hilden (ALTERNET) reports:

On Tuesday, reports emerged that journalists had received vague threats in the minutes before embattled Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth delivered a press briefing at the Pentagon. According to online posts from reporters, the context of the threat was so unclear that even the official delivering it seemed embarrassed by the situation.
“At Pete Hegseth’s briefing this morning, an official came out to tell reporters that if anyone ‘gets out of line’ they will be ‘removed physically,’” posted Vanity Fair Washington Correspondent Aiden McLaughlin. “Reporters shouted back ‘what does that mean?’ Official said it meant to maintain ’decorum’ and added he was just relaying orders.” McLaughlin added, “A few minutes later, DOD press aide Joel Valdez walked out and said he would explain the orders off the record. Reporters asked for it to be on background. Valdez looked down at the floor and then walked out of the room without saying anything.”
Washington Post reporter Tara Copp backed this account, posting, “A security agent for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth just warned the reporters here — for Hegseth’s first press conference in 6 months — that we will be physically removed from the briefing room if we are not professional and maintain decorum. We asked if that meant no shouted questions and got no clarity. It’s the first time any of us could ever remember being threatened like this. Shouted questions are normal. ‘This is crazy town’ one journalist said, noting the White House has never threatened reporters like that.”
The reaction to the threat was swift. “An inauspicious start to the first Pentagon press briefing in six months,” noted CNN Chief Media Analyst Brian Stelter. Journalist Nancy Yousseff joked, “No beardos. No weirdos. No uncomfortable questions?” referencing one of Hegseth’s favorite tough-guy taglines. “Nothing says ‘warrior ethos’ like having your flunky threaten to remove reporters from a press conference when they ask you hard questions,” jibed Third Way cofounder Matt Bennett. “This is how fascists operate,” asserted one journalist.


And then came the press conference. 


Pentagon Flack Douglas E. Jessmer typed away like the toughest priss in the steno pad opening with, "Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, facing the threat of impeachment, detailed a record of successful operations on his watch today during a press briefing at the Pentagon."  He's the Secretary of Defense. Congress would have to change that and they'd have to change The Department of Defense to the Department of War.  Chump signing an executive order really doesn't change anything and the executive order will be overturned as soon as he leaves office.  But look at that first sentence, not only does he get the title wrong, he also has Priss Pot "detail[ing] a record of successful operations on his watch" -- huh?  The Iran War has not been a success.  It was supposed to last a few weeks but instead it's gone on for months.  He's as stupid as Chump who earlier this week claimed no US service members have died in the Iran War.  

Jessmer quotes one inane statement from Hegseth after another including this on the troops, "They are the best of our nation. Like our president, I will defend them with every fiber of my being every single day. That includes having their back no matter what."

He will defend them every single day?  With every fiber of his being?  He will have their back no matter what?

He has the gall to tell that lie after the USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN?  After he covered it up and ignored it when the stories first surfaced in April?  After he continued to dismiss the stories as they grew louder and louder?  After he penalized one of the service members on board?  



Nicholas McKelvey had been aboard the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln for 255 grueling days.

As the war with Iran raged, the 19-year-old Navy airman — an aviation mechanic in a helicopter squadron — was working 12-hour shifts in the blazing sun, checking and guiding helicopters on the flight deck. He had missed the birth of his daughter. His in-laws were battling cancer. Food on the aircraft carrier was in short supply.

Then he reached his breaking point.

At about 10 a.m. on a Monday in early August, he sprinted along the flight deck then leaped from the ship’s edge and plunged 67 feet into the Arabian Sea, according to Navy records reviewed by The New York Times. He was rescued by a helicopter crew and returned to the ship 50 minutes later.

“I didn’t want to be there anymore,” Mr. McKelvey said in an interview, speaking publicly for the first time. “If I was going to die because of it, then that’s just how it is.”

On Thursday, the Navy effectively fired him — moving to discharge Mr. McKelvey after accusing him of “malingering,” or faking a mental health crisis to end his deployment, according to Mr. McKelvey’s wife, Samantha Larry. Under the terms of his removal — a general discharge under honorable conditions — he will become ineligible for education assistance under the G.I. Bill, cutting off a pathway to college that his family was counting on, Ms. Larry said.

The case offers a rare glimpse into how the Navy has handled mental health issues aboard ships under pressure from sustained deployments during the war with Iran. And it raises questions about whether officers treated Mr. McKelvey’s jump overboard as misconduct without sufficiently examining what led a sailor to take such an extreme, life-threatening step.

The Lincoln, which returned to San Diego this month after a near-record 322-day deployment, became a symbol of the food shortages and mental health challenges facing Navy ship crews after Iran destroyed a key supply hub in the region.

There were eight suicide attempts during the long deployment among sailors in the Lincoln strike group, according to a letter the Navy sent to lawmakers last month. The letter did not name Mr. McKelvey, but the description of a sailor who “went overboard from the ship” matches his story.




8 attempted suicides?  Then let's not pretend that Priss Pot Pete has their back. 


Mika Brezinski shared her thoughts on the speech and those of a Republican who'd texted her.




“It is a little embarrassing, I have to say, to hear him talk and to hear him talk about members serving in uniform,” she added. “I got a text from a Republican who served in the DoD and worked on Capitol Hill.”
Reading from her phone, she said, “Hegseth’s speech summarized this way: ‘Mr. President, please don't let me go. Pathetic to see him cowering behind those in uniform.’”
The MS NOW host added, “And that is the big point here. This was not for the media. I don't even think it was for the American people. I think it was for one person and that would be Donald J. Trump. What's going to matter here is, is the president going to think this performance was anything but embarrassing and desperate and groveling, almost? It was childish at times. The language he used, the way he described some of the actions that the department took.”



But what he did have was a feckless House.  Robert Jimison (NEW YORK TIMES) reports:

The vote was 211 to 204 to refer the charges to a committee, which would allow Republicans to slow the process indefinitely. Only one Republican, Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who spearheaded the effort, voted with Democrats against doing so.
[. . .]
The 11 Democrats who did not vote were Representatives Julia Brownley, Lou Correa and Nancy Pelosi, all of California; Laura Gillen of New York; Steven Horsford of Nevada; Jonathan L. Jackson of Illinois; Brittany Pettersen of Colorado; Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico; Haley Stevens of Michigan; Marilyn Strickland of Washington; and Frederica Wilson of Florida.





Impeachment could be attempted in the new Congress that, in January, will be sworn in.

This is a very poor reflection on Hakeem Jeffries leadership.  

A car accident blocked traffic!!!!  Oh, we missed it because of that!!!

I don't care why you missed it.  That was the most important vote in this lame duck Congress.  Nancy Pelosi, you know, from your years in the House, that traffic can be a problem.  You know what time you should have been there and knew how to plan.  But you didn't.

And Hakeem, it was your job to ensure everyone was there for that vote.

I have defended Hakeem here repeatedly.  But to oversea the failure of this vote, as Hakeem did, because all of his members were not present?  That does not speak well of Jeffries' leadership abilities.  

This was a very important vote.  And it was a symbolic one.  And what Jeffries as leader delivered was a loss that shouldn't have happened.  Dems would have had the vote if the 11 who skipped the vote had been there.  



Again, an important vote, people should have been there well before the voting began and then they wouldn't have been delayed.  With them delayed, Jeffries should have done everything in his power to stall on the vote to buy more time for the 11 to arrive. 

This reflects very poorly on Hakeem.  Very poorly.  Others should consider running for the post of Speaker of the House because there needs to be a pushback on this if only to ensure that a Speaker Jeffries will have gotten the message that he is responsible for House Democrats and he has to make sure that they deliver.  He did not do that yesterday.


It was the first day since the midterms to show that he could deliver and he failed.  

He failed. 

There's no way to spin this or pretty it up.  

He failed and if he wants to be known as a failure, he needs to step aside and let someone else be Speaker of the House.  




A federal judge wrote that she knew of no precedent for the Justice Department declining to appear for ICE rather than formally telling the court it won’t contest a case, after prosecutors in Seattle told the court they lacked the resources.
U.S. District Judge Tiffany Cartwright wrote it Saturday in an order freeing Baljit Singh, an asylum seeker from India who was being held at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma.
According to his petition, Singh had been released under supervision while his asylum claim was pending when, in September, he and friends traveled from California to Peace Arch Historical State Park and “inadvertently went to the exit at the Canada border.” He was then detained.
Last month, Singh filed a habeas petition to challenge his detention, but the government never answered.
Cartwright treated it as “intentionally unopposed” because no government lawyer appeared within seven court days, a window the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Western Washington laid out in an Oct. 26 letter to the court, her order said.

So the Justice Dept told Judge Cartwright that they didn't have enough staff to make it into court?  Khaleda Rahman (NEWSWEEK) reports another judge has been told something similar: 

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington said it does not have the resources to defend every case against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and will let judges rule on “many” petitions without government opposition.

In a letter to U.S. District Judge David Estudillo last month, Acting U.S. Attorney Charles Floyd said his office is dealing with a huge volume of immigration-related habeas corpus cases. These allow people to legally challenge their detention by the government, with dozens being filed each week.

As a result, he said his office will not defend “many” such cases going forward. His letter did not provide any details about how many cases could be affected.

They don't have enough attorneys.  Why is that?  Oh, yeah, Nick Miller (THE i PAPER) notes: 

In less than a week, Donald Trump’s Department of Justice has seen four high-profile resignations, amid a growing crisis for an administration addicted to prosecutions and mired in controversy.
The department’s head Todd Blanche, Trump’s personal criminal lawyer who became the US’s 96th attorney general in August, revealed the resignation on Monday of his assistant attorney general in the civil division, Brett Shumate.
The resignation – effective immediately – was “abrupt and unexpected”, department sources told CBS. There was speculation it was linked to the promotion of Stephen Miller to White House chief of staff.
Last week, the assistant attorneys general for the DoJ’s national security and civil rights divisions also quit. A key US attorney in Miami, who had overseen an unproductive investigation into Trump’s political enemies, also left last week.
[. . .]
And they’re just the tip of the iceberg. More than 10,000 federal lawyers have quit since Trump took office, and many were not replaced.

Imagine that, a Convicted Felon gets sworn in as president and over 10,000 attorneys quit the Justice Dept. 

Still on ICE, have they lost an 8-year-old boy?  Richard Luscombe (GUARDIAN) reports: 

Democratic lawmakers in California are demanding answers from the Trump administration about the safety and whereabouts of an eight-year-old Haitian boy who they say was put in restraints and taken into custody by federal immigration officers at a check-in last week.
Video obtained by NBC News shows the third-grader being led away by three armed officials after he was summoned to what his family said was a routine immigration appointment in San Diego on 4 November.

On Tuesday, California’s US senators Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff joined four Democratic Congress members in sending an oversight letter to homeland security secretary Markwayne Mullin and health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, asking for an explanation.

“Video footage appears to show the use of restraints on a child who seemed to pose no threat to those around him, raising serious questions about the handling of this incident,” the lawmakers wrote. “We express concerns about the basis for this action and the harm it may cause a young child who appeared for his required hearing.”



Let's move over to Chump's old buddy Jeffrey Epstein.  Prior to Epstein's death in jail in 2019, he and Chump had roll dogged it around for decades -- plural.  The sex trafficker was best buds with Chump.  And Chump is accused of assaulting women and girls provided to him by Epstein in a report released a week before the midterms by the Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee.  Yesterday, the Republicans on the House Oversight Committee issued the following press release:

WASHINGTON—The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform today released a majority staff report titled, “A Review of the Federal Government’s Mishandling of the Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell Criminal Investigations.” The report culminates the Committee’s 15-month investigation, which included 19 transcribed interviews and depositions with key witnesses, the release of documents from the Department of Justice and the Epstein estate, and an extensive review of financial records. 
The report details how Epstein and Maxwell’s network facilitated the recruitment, control, and abuse of young women. It also exposes how Epstein cultivated relationships with powerful individuals and leveraged those connections to establish financial and social legitimacy. Additionally, the report documents the federal government’s decades-long failure to hold Epstein accountable for his crimes and deliver justice for survivors.
The report offers several recommendations to deliver long-overdue justice for survivors and prevent the federal government from repeating these failures. Among its recommendations, the report calls on Congress to pass Chairman Comer’s legislation, which would ensure survivors can speak freely about sexual abuse, even if they previously signed confidentiality agreements. The report also recommends that the Department of Justice interview or re-interview key witnesses, further investigate allegations of criminal activity involving Epstein’s associates, and provide survivors with unredacted access to their records.
“The federal government has failed the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s horrific crimes for decades. The House Oversight Committee conducted a review of the federal government’s mishandled investigations to bring transparency to the American people and accountability for survivors. Epstein operated with impunity, shielded and enabled by powerful connections and a justice system that repeatedly failed his victims. Governments at every level and powerful institutions must meet their legal obligations to identify these crimes, stop perpetrators, and deliver justice for survivors,” said Chairman Comer.
“The evidence we uncovered makes clear that the Department of Justice must interview or re-interview key witnesses, investigate Epstein associates accused of criminal activity, and ensure survivors have access to their records. Congress must also pass legislation protecting the ability of individuals with knowledge of sexual abuse and survivors to speak freely about these crimes, regardless of nondisclosure agreements. We cannot undo the horrific harm inflicted on these women. But we must ensure that allegations of criminal activity are thoroughly investigated, survivors are protected, and those responsible are held accountable. The failures of the past must not be repeated,” concluded Chairman Comer.
Read the report here. Key findings and recommendations include:

The federal government has failed survivors for decades.
The Committee finds that the crimes Epstein committed after 2005 could have been prevented—and justice served—if not for failures by federal investigators and prosecutors in South Florida and Washington, D.C.
Rather than pursue a federal indictment and fully investigate allegations in other states, the U.S. Attorney’s Office (USAO) for the Southern District of Florida entered into a non-prosecution agreement (NPA) with Epstein in 2007, allowing him to evade federal prosecution in exchange for pleading guilty to lesser state charges. Epstein was sentenced to 18 months in jail, received extensive work-release privileges during which he continued to abuse women, and was released early. Federal prosecutors also failed to inform survivors of the NPA, undermining their ability to pursue civil claims or publicly expose Epstein’s crimes.
While some of these failures reflected poor judgment by the USAO, others appeared to stem from Epstein’s pervasive influence and far-reaching connections, potentially including two attorneys employed by the office.
After Epstein was arrested in 2019, he died in custody at a Bureau of Prisons facility in New York. Understaffing and systemic dysfunction contributed to correctional officers on both shifts missing at least 12 rounds and three inmate counts on the night of his death. This resulted in nearly eight hours without adequate supervision of Epstein and other inmates.
Following enactment of the Epstein Files Transparency Act in 2025, the Department of Justice (DOJ) failed to adequately communicate about document releases and failed to sufficiently protect survivors. Deficient redactions exposed survivors’ sensitive personal information.
The Department of Justice must take further action to advance transparency and justice for survivors.

DOJ should ensure investigators interview or reinterview key witnesses to advance justice for survivors of Epstein’s and Maxwell’s crimes. For example, DOJ should further question and investigate Epstein’s assistant, Lesley Groff, regarding her potential knowledge of and role in facilitating Epstein’s criminal activity.
DOJ must further investigate sexual assault allegations Sarah Kellen, a longtime Epstein assistant and survivor, made against two powerful men—Philip Levine, the former Mayor of Miami Beach from 2013 to 2017, and Frédéric Fekkai, a French celebrity hairstylist—during her transcribed interview with the Committee.
DOJ should establish an appropriate process for Epstein survivors and their representatives to access their personal files and records in unredacted form.
Non-prosecution agreements must be subject to rigorous scrutiny to ensure they serve the interests of justice rather than enable and empower criminals.
DOJ and the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices must rigorously enforce policies designed to prevent conflicts of interest in federal investigations and prosecutions.
Financial institutions failed to act on clear indicators of human trafficking and immigration fraud.

U.S. and foreign government authorities failed to identify indicators of human trafficking and immigration fraud. Institutions such as American Express enabled this activity, with company agents allowing Epstein to use fraudulent decoy flights and refundable or dummy itineraries to transport foreign women across borders directly to his residences.
Financial institutions possessed substantial information about Epstein’s criminal history and repeatedly identified transactions and activities presenting heightened compliance risks. Yet they failed to adequately address those risks, in some cases reporting them years later after Epstein’s 2019 arrest, due to Epstein’s personal connections, wealth, and influence.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) should review whether financial institutions are meeting their reporting obligations designed to detect and prevent suspicious activities, including money laundering and human trafficking.
Congress must pass legislation to prevent the weaponization of nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) to silence survivors of sexual abuse.

Epstein and powerful individuals in his orbit weaponized NDAs to silence survivors and conceal criminal activity.
Congress should pass the Survivor’s Voice Protection Act (H.R. 10389), introduced by Chairman Comer, to ensure witnesses and survivors of sexual crimes are not deterred from speaking freely by nondisclosure agreements. The legislation also establishes accountability for trusted individuals by requiring them to report suspected grooming behavior to law enforcement to help protect minors. This bill would also define grooming behavior for the first time in federal law.
Democrats must put survivors—not politics—first.
[. . .]

August 18, 2025: William P. Barr, Deposition 
September 19, 2025: R. Alexander Acosta, Transcribed Interview 
February 9, 2026: Ghislaine Maxwell, Deposition 
February 18, 2026: Leslie H. Wexner, Deposition 
February 26, 2026: Hillary R. Clinton, Deposition
February 27, 2026: President William J. Clinton, Deposition 
March 11, 2026: Richard D. Kahn, Deposition 
March 19, 2026: Darren K. Indyke, Deposition 
April 30, 2026: Theodore Waitt, Transcribed Interview 
May 6, 2026: Howard W. Lutnick, Transcribed Interview 
May 18, 2026: Tova Noel, Transcribed Interview 
May 21, 2026: Sarah Kellen, Transcribed Interview 
May 29, 2026: Pamela J. Bondi, Transcribed Interview 
June 9, 2026: Lesley Groff, Transcribed Interview 
June 10, 2026: William H. Gates, III, Transcribed Interview
June 26, 2026: Leon D. Black, Transcribed Interview 
June 30, 2026: Douglas J. Band, Transcribed Interview 
July 15, 2026: Kathryn H. Ruemmler, Transcribed Interview 
July 23, 2026: James Edward “Jes” Staley, Transcribed Interview 
September 3, 2026: Leon D. Black, Deposition (Failed to appear)


We've omitted James Comer's paean to Chump's 'innocence.'  The committee didn't interview any survivors. In addition, they did not do open hearings and they did not record video on every witness that appeared before them.  Heres' the statement issued by the Democrats on the Committee:

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, Rep. Robert Garcia, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, issued the following statement after Chairman James Comer released a partisan report on the mishandling of the Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell investigations.
“Oversight Republicans have released a report based on an incomplete investigation and zero public hearings on Jeffrey Epstein. The Department of Justice continues to illegally withhold over 2.5 million pages of documents, there’s been no investigation of Ghislaine Maxwell’s transfer, and Attorney General Todd Blanche has yet to testify about his role in the largest government cover-up of the modern era.
“We will not allow the President and his allies to dismiss this investigation. We intend to hold real public hearings uplifting survivors and asking tough questions of the powerful men who associated with Epstein, including Donald Trump. Our work is just getting started,” said Ranking Member Robert Garcia.
###


Let's wind down with this from Senator Patty Murray's office:


Murray: “Congress is a co-equal branch of government—not Donald Trump’s customer service line. Republicans may have forgotten that, but the American people just sent them a reminder that will echo for years to come.”

Murray: “We are fighting a deeply entrenched and lawless Administration. So, it is not going to be easy or quick. The only way to accomplish our goals is the hard way. We are going to have to roll up our sleeves, and grind it out. It’s going to take hard work, sustained pressure, and sharp political strategy. Building something is always going to be harder, slower work than burning it down.”

***WATCH: Senator Murray’s full speech***

Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, spoke on the Senate floor on how the incoming Democratic Congress will fight to lower costs, help families get by, put an end to Trump’s reckless war of choice with Iran, and fight the rampant corruption coming out of every corner of this administration.

Senator Murray’s remarks, as delivered, are below:

“Last week the American people used their voices. They used their votes. They did their job. Now, it is time for Congress to finally get back to its job. We are here to be a voice for the American people, not a rubber stamp for the President.

“Look, Congress is a co-equal branch of government—not Donald Trump’s customer service line. Republicans may have forgotten that, but the American people just sent them a reminder that will echo for years to come.

“And now, Democrats are going to try something Republicans seem to have forgotten about: keeping our promises. We are going to hit the ground running by fighting to lower costs, to stop corruption, and to end Trump’s war with Iran. That’s what America voted for. And that’s what we will work to deliver.

[TRUMP’S TARIFFS AND TRADE WAR]

“A Democratic Congress means pressing to put an end to Trump’s stupid tariffs and trade wars. Nobody in America wants to pay more for groceries just so Trump can pick a fight with Canada.

[ACCOUNTABILITY FOR ICE]

“A Democratic Congress means real accountability for ICE. Republicans wrote ICE a blank check. We are going to be writing them subpoenas.

[CRACKING DOWN ON CORRUPTION]

“A Democratic Congress means cracking down on corruption: insider trading, selling pardons and access, crypto scams, no-bid contracts, war profiteering—all of it.

“If you thought Trump was your ticket to get rich quick by breaking laws, abusing power, and defrauding the American people, you thought wrong. When the gavels change hands, the days of rampant, consequence-free grifting will come to an end. Bet on that.

[ACCESSIBLE AND AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE]

“And of course, when it comes to health care, a Democratic Congress means reversing health care cuts—just for a start. Every time Republicans take power, they make a mess out of health care.

“We have got to reverse the Medicaid cuts that are shutting down our hospitals. We have got to restore the ACA tax credits that make health care far more affordable for families. And we need to stop Trump’s plan to use AI to cut seniors off from their Medicare benefits.

“But we can’t stop there—because if Republicans’ health care strategy is ‘death by a thousand cuts,’ Democrats have to be more than the party of a thousand band-aids.

“We need a robust public option, and universal coverage. And we are going to have that conversation in the next Congress.

[PUBLIC HEALTH]

“We are also going to have a conversation about undoing all the damage RFK Jr. has done to our health in this country.

“A Democratic Congress means putting science back in public health.

“Right now, measles cases are at record levels. Instead of solving the problem, our nation’s highest health official is covering it up. Instead of championing vaccines, RFK Jr. has been championing conspiracies. He should be fighting viruses, not vaccines.

“Americans don’t want viruses that we eliminated roaring back and killing babies. Americans don’t want lettuce to give them diarrhea. They don’t want promising clinical trials cut off, or respected researchers sacked. They don’t want FDA’s gold standard overruled by Secretary Kennedy’s wildest conspiracies or Trump’s biggest donors.

“Chaos and corruption may have spread like a plague under Trump and RFK Jr, but you know what they say: sunlight is the best disinfectant. Accountability is coming. And RFK Jr. is far from the only person we will be holding accountable.

[HOLDING VOUGHT ACCOUNTABLE]

“A Democratic Congress means Russ Vought’s days of breaking our laws and extorting our communities without consequence are coming to an end. As incoming Chair of the Appropriations Committee, you better believe I am going to be demanding answers and accountability for the brazen robbery and illegality we have seen from Trump’s OMB director.

“I’m going to have hearings, and I’m going to use our funding bills to rein in the abuses and corruption of this administration while we invest in our American families. I will expose this administration’s corruption and the games Russ Vought and OMB have been playing with our American tax dollars.

“I am going to drag this Administrations’ crooked schemes into the light of day for every American to see—and you better believe I am going to stamp this president’s very ugly and very un-American brand of politics and corruption into the dust.

[MAKING CHILD CARE AFFORDABLE]

“Now let me just say: I am going to make certain a Democratic Congress means getting serious about the child care crisis. Child care is too hard for parents to find. It’s too expensive for families to afford. It is too tough for providers to keep their daycare facilities open. And this all is crushing our families and our economy.

“I have been fighting for child care since my first day in politics—and you can bet that next Congress I am going to be loud about beating the drum, pounding the pavement, and charting a course towards a future where every family in this country can get quality, affordable child care. And with so many new colleagues now coming who have young kids joining us, I know we are going to make progress.

[DEFENDING PUBLIC EDUCATION]

“That doesn’t just go for child care though—it also goes for defending public education.

“A Democratic Congress means Trump’s plan to demolish the Department of Education is dead in the water. We’ve been fighting these efforts since Trump’s first day in office—but with gavels in hand, we are going to have even more power to put an end to this nonsense once and for all.

“There is no world where this former Pre-K teacher will let Trump bulldoze the programs that support our kids, because every student deserves to be able to get a great education—and afford college—no matter their zip code, or the size of their parent’s bank account. 

[INVESTING IN INFRASTRUCTURE]

“And a Democratic Congress means building infrastructure for all Americans—instead of letting Trump build monuments to himself. Republicans have voted to cut off vital investments to create great jobs and rebuild America’s infrastructure. Well guess what? Democrats are going to fight to keep investing in the roads, and bridges, and ports, and airports that people use every day.

[FIGHTING FOR REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM]

“We are also going to be pushing hard to fight back on abortion. A Democratic Congress means countering Republican attacks on abortion and clawing back the rights they have chipped away.

“Make no mistake, Republicans spent decades on their crusade to overturn Roe and rip away women’s rights. So I will spend every day of this majority fighting to win them back. Democrats will be relentless and tenacious.

“And that means putting abortion rights to a vote on the floor and making every senator say where they stand. It means protecting Title X, Planned Parenthood, and contraception access from this administration’s attacks. It means elevating the voices of women across the country about being investigated for miscarriages, or forced to death’s door before a doctor could treat them.

“I do not expect quick, easy victories—but I am in this fight for as long as it takes. We will claw back every inch we can at every opportunity we can. I will keep pushing until we have the trifecta we need to restore abortion rights in all 50 states.

[KILLING TRUMP’S BLANK CHECK FOR WAR]

“Now, when it comes to Trump’s wars, let’s be clear: a Democratic Congress means Donald Trump is absolutely not getting his $1.5 trillion war budget, or the nearly $70 billion he wants to bankroll the Iran war.

“There is no way on God’s green earth that I am going to let Republicans jam through a funding bill that blows war spending through the roof and at the same time cutting family priorities like child care, housing, and health care.

“This war with Iran should never have started. It is putting our service members in harms’ way. It is blowing gas prices through the roof. It is undermining our credibility on the world stage—not to mention weakening our position on other fronts. This administration is responsible for the deaths of nearly 200 Iranian school children, for God’s sake.

“Trump’s war has been a disaster from top to bottom. We are going to push to end this war as responsibly as we can, and we are going to hold Trump and Hegseth accountable for starting it in the first place.

[LOOKING FORWARD]

“Now, there’s going to be a lot more to say on these issues—and many other challenges where Republicans are going to have to accept reality and come to the table to work with us. Like: how do we develop a responsible framework for AI regulation that makes sure regular people are the ones reaping the benefits of this technology, not the ones bearing the burdens of it?

“The clock is ticking to get our arms around this. We cannot let this powerful technology—and the companies developing it—run amok.

“Or, how do we preserve Social Security in a way that keeps our promise to seniors, and prevents painful cuts to benefits? Social Security is projected to run dry in 2032—meaning every Senator just elected is going to have a say in how we solve this. Those conversations need to start now.

“Or, for anyone wondering if I can find common ground with Trump: Let’s pass the Sunshine Protection Act. Let’s give people a bit more sunshine. Let’s finally end the tyranny of changing the clock back and forth just to see the sun set before you leave work.

“There is no question we have got our work cut out for us in the Congress ahead. I think we all know this is not going to be easy. I’d like to say the overwhelming results sent an undeniable message to the White House, but we all know this President has no problem denying election results, or spitting in the face of Congress, or flouting our laws.

“Republicans forgot Congress is not a rubber stamp. Our challenge is to remember it is not a magic wand. We are a co-equal branch of government. We can check this President, but we still have to contend with his veto power, and we still have to face a conservative Supreme Court.

“We can bring down prices, but not with a wave of our hands. We can fight corruption, but not with a strong press statement. And we can end Trump’s war with Iran, but not with a snap of our fingers.

“We are fighting a deeply entrenched and lawless Administration. So, it is not going to be easy or quick. The only way to accomplish our goals is the hard way. We are going to have to roll up our sleeves, and grind it out. It’s going to take hard work, sustained pressure, and sharp political strategy. Building something is always going to be harder, slower work than burning it down.

“But I want to end with the good news. The American people turned out in a very big way last week. They sent a message as loud and clear as I have ever heard in politics. And as a result, next year Democrats will have more hands to take on that work than at any time in the Trump era.

“And we are—every single one of us—ready to meet this moment.” 

###






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