Tuesday Triumph, Trump Bumped, New DawnRevolution Delayed, Blame Game, Anti‑Corruption, Subversion Attempts, What Now

To be repeated at a future date.

For more internet hope and wisdom, we consult our usual suspects:

North Carolina pastor John Pavlovitz sees darkness retreating and welcomes America to a new day.

When you are in its grip, the darkness has a way of making you believe that the sun will never rise again, that you will always feel this way, that you should abandon hope for good.

The key is in staying awake, in not surrendering to the real nightmare visions and the fearful false stories, in persevering long enough to see the light begin to break through, to witness the dawn arriving.

Photo by Raymond Petrik on Unsplash
Nojo is back (YAY!!) with a single blunt reaction echoing a parallel (in amazement status) event 5 decades plus ago.
Friend Infidel753 reviews election returns as a mixture of pluses and disappointments.

Good title:

A landslide, but no revolution

Greatest disappointment:

There is no sign here of an economic-populist revolution breaking through the increasing stagnation of our politics in the stranglehold of two parties both dominated by billionaire donors.

He is right on that. I think his despair is premature.

I hold a more hopeful view, although one of cautious optimism. There is a smattering of signals, beginning with resistance to Supreme Court rulings that enable unlimited cash influence in our politics. Anti-corruption investigations, if directed toward criminality and clear misconduct can spark the support we should be seeking.

Another disappointment:

Tucker-Carlson-endorsed jihadist sympathizer Abdul El‑Sayed won election to the Senate in Michigan. The miasma of 1930s Germany which has been hanging over the country since October 2023 just got a little thicker and more poisonous.

He is right to the extent that collective guilt by religion or ethnicity seems to be a constant source of human evil. We have to resist anti‑Semitism that flows from the horrors of war, along with videos of civilian slaughter. Some are pure propaganda, but not all can be so easily dismissed. None justify vilifying Jews for being Jews.

My friend lends the unfortunate impression of the same human flaw in the opposite direction.
Does he reflexively define about-to-be Senator Abdul El‑Sayed as a supporter of terroristic violence because of his name, his religion, or his ethnicity?

I don’t think so.
Infidel has previously supported his opinion with El‑Sayed’s willingness to appear with Hasan Piker, a reckless social media personality who mixes reasonable views with occasional incendiary statements, some of which he thankfully retracts or seeks to explain away.

El‑Sayed’s distancing himself from those statements satisfies me, but I can see disagreement.
Would we excuse a conservative candidate appearing at rallies with racist David Duke because he is only trying to reach the audience with a more reasonable message?

Infidel goes on to provide other well-reasoned pluses and disappointments.
It’s a good read.
Libertarian Michael A. LaFerrara has libertarian thoughts on Tuesday’s Republican rout.
One of four points of silver lining – Americans will learn to hate liberals again:

The anti-American, criminal ideas of the Democratic Socialists of America will become front-and-center, allowing the American people to learn just how much they threaten our intellectual, political, and economic freedoms. The DSA fades back into obscurity.

One of four dangers – Democrats will destroy the Constitution:

Socialism turns out to have a far deeper grip on the American electorate than I think, crippling moderate Democrats’ ability to hold back the radical Left of their party—meaning all bets are off for the continuation of what remains of our Constitutional liberty in America in 2028 and beyond.

Michael strikes me as a validation of an old Bill Buckley dictum, that those on the political fringes lose the ability to make ideological distinctions.

He sees laws, taxation, and any sort of community expenditure, unless voluntary, as leading to communism.

He sees police departments, fire protection, speed limits, and public sidewalks as inevitably Stalinist.
In Hackwhackers, world leaders, Britain, Israel, Russia, France, Spain, Ukraine, and more, react to Trump’s drubbing.
Author and educator Amanda Nelson looks at the election, who MAGA once had, who MAGA lost, and whether MAGA still lives:
Our favorite Earth-Bound Misfit contemplates a few ways this dialogue repeated on Tuesday:

Trump: “Pretend I’m On the Ballot.”
Democrats: “OK!!”
News Corpse reacts as Trump blames Republican losses on an unexpected perpetrator.

They include their own summary on social media:

Trump continues to be a pathetic and delusional sore loser.

Now he is blaming Fox News for the midterm election losses that are almost entirely attributable to him. And to the extent that Fox shares any blame, it's because of their blatant bias for Trump.

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— News Corpse (@newscorpse.bsky.social) November 4, 2026 at 6:03 AM
Author and journalist Quinta Jurecic (The Atlantic) notes the persistent but ineffective efforts at Trump’s DOJ to subvert the election:

One thing worth noting about DOJ's last-minute election frenzy: It seems to be freaking out laypeople, but my impression after speaking to election experts is that all this is more like a toddler throwing a tantrum and smearing feces on the wall

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— Quinta Jurecic (@qjurecic.bsky.social) November 2, 2026 at 9:27 AM

Yes, there's a lot of stuff on the wall, but it's not a sign of a well-thought-out plan

— Quinta Jurecic (@qjurecic.bsky.social) November 2, 2026 at 9:28 AM

Julian Sanchez suspects the underlying reason may lie with a fortunate (for democracy) personality flaw:

It is genuinely a little surprising, given that they obviously have no qualms about attempting to interfere with domestic elections, that they seem to be doing it in such a haphazard and ill-thought-out way. I’d have expected them to be planning this from day one.

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— Julian Sanchez (@normative.bsky.social) November 2, 2026 at 10:24 AM

Though I suppose that may be a combination of not having anticipated being so insanely unpopular that Kansas is in play, plus some of the earlier schemes (like the Postal Service shennannigans) getting blocked by the courts.

— Julian Sanchez (@normative.bsky.social) November 2, 2026 at 10:26 AM

They may be disadvantaged by the fact that certain pretty obvious realities are taboo to openly acknowledge. (Like “Trump is massively unpopular” and “Some of the crap he wants to pull is so flagrantly illegal that even this SCOTUS will never go along”.)

— Julian Sanchez (@normative.bsky.social) November 2, 2026 at 10:33 AM

It’s hard to strategize effectively when the Leader inhabits a self-soothing alternate reality that his subordinates are forbidden to unsettle with inconvenient facts. Expect it was verboten to even acknowledge the likely scale of the blue wave until long after it was evident to everyone else.

— Julian Sanchez (@normative.bsky.social) November 2, 2026 at 10:36 AM

It is sobering to think that our Republic survived, not because of the durability of democratic institutions, but because of the infantile nature of Trump’s emotional development.
Written before Tuesday’s tsunami, Jason Linkins goes to the victory of democracy in Brazil, and Mamdani’s performance in New York to illustrate the hidden force for democracy: unity and cooperation of pro-democracy forces. The enabler of that unity turns out to be communication through social media.

We can do hard things, but only if we do them together.

Re-elected President of Brazil Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva delivers a victory speech at his election headquarters inside the Intercontinental Hotel in São Paulo

Nicolas Hernandez/Anadolu/Getty Images

Jason suggests a sense of community from acting in concert:

When we organize, we turn the arduous process of politicking into a game. We find purpose in shared burdens. We’re more apt to discover that the work actually brings joy rather than hopelessness. And if we lose, we lick our wounds together. Together, our possibilities bloom.
M. Bouffant at Web of Evil celebrates one, maybe two, victories of California Democrats he voted for.
For cartoon Republicans (I think is the intent), Darkness & Destruction:

Mercy Is Gone & Dread Is Here
In Rural Missouri, Jess Piper sees hope for our state in new places.

I can see a blue wave from the cornfields.

Let me tell you why we are so hopeful and how I know we are close to a blue Missouri: Missouri Democrats just saw 16 seats flip red to blue. We beat another abortion ban. We beat another gerrymandered map. We forced Missouri politicians to follow the will of the people with a constitutional amendment.

In Missouri, we have been rejecting the Republican agenda for years through ballot initiatives, but still voting for Republican candidates. This cycle, that changed.

Speaking on rural races at a DNC event in DC a few weeks back…
Wisconsin conservative James Wigderson will miss failed Republican candidate for Governor Tom Tiffany as he watches David Crowley prepare to take office.
Quoting Tom:

“As governor, I will not allow any foreign adversary, like communist China, to buy one acre of farmland here in Wisconsin.”

James did enjoy kicking Tiffany around:

I’m looking forward to the invading horde of Chinese realtors coming to buy up Wisconsin’s farmland, now that Tom Tiffany can’t stop them. I’m hoping we’ll soon have Chinese food trucks on every corner, selling egg rolls and spicy Kung Pao Chicken to the masses.

James celebrates other well-deserved Republican losses.

And contemplates the most profound reasons:

People placed “I Voted” stickers onto memorials dedicated to Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Election Day. https://t.co/lLiaxO5QsE

— CBS News (@CBSNews) November 4, 2026
Ted McLaughlin at jobsanger was born and raised in Texas and takes this week personally.
Dave Dubya sees the last moment turnabout by Democrat Haley Stevens, who lost her primary race to Abdul El‑Sayed then endorsed the Republican candidate for Congress. He reacts to what he sees as betrayal (he’s right). After watching her interviewed, he tempers that with a touch of pity (he’s right again).
Scotties Playtime shares mainstream reporting, as well as reactions from public figures and social media, to Haley Stevens endorsement of Republican Mike Rogers.
Nan’s Notebook contains her speculations on what Trump will do now.
So many possibilities.
Anticipating Tuesday’s rout of Republicans, Brian Beutler takes a look at a bigger Democratic challenge: Not blowing the opportunity voters will have provided:

He advises beginning with a warning:

We’re done looking only forward; we’ll be looking backward this time, too.

He outlines specificity and mentions some of the specifics that Democrats should include.

For the future, he recommends caution about compromise and aisle crossing:

Extend an invitation: not to bipartisan compromise, but to party-switchers who’ve reached the end of their patience with MAGA. Extend absolution, but only to accomplices who come clean.

And he very much wants abandonment of timidity:

Democrats only gesture at the options available to them. They imagine the backlash within their own caucuses, particularly from the frontline membership, and thus lack the confidence to set the terms of political combat with Republicans without seeking permission first.

He issues his own warning that extends beyond election night:

If it persists tonight, we’ll regret the missed opportunity.

Amen!
Noted author John Scalzi acknowledges that Democrats were blessed with extraordinarily adept candidates, but were helped into a tsunami level win by a phenomenally evil administration.

And that necessarily implies a mission:

This election was a rebuke and a repudiation, and I hope to the sweet and merry God above that the Democrats remember that when they’re seated in January. They were not elected to office to play nice with the fascists in the halls of power. They were elected to punch them in the face, repeatedly, the president most of all, but, be assured, not only him. There is to be a lot of punching going on.
In Letters from an American, historian Heather Cox Richardson points to polling that shows an overwhelming voter motivation in Tuesday’s wild results: governmental corruption.

The word corruption, in this case, is not just about laws being broken, but about the old fashioned idea that the body politic has been “corrupted”—the old word for a physical disease—by money. That sort of corruption is also under the microscope now.

Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times noted today that the only person who took a bigger hit on Tuesday than Donald Trump was billionaire Elon Musk.

Richardson points to an intriguing way individual states can overcome Supreme Court rulings allowing virtually unlimited corporate corruption of elections.

Rather than going after the political spending that the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens’ United v. Federal Elections Commission decision protected, the plan capitalizes on the fact that corporations are created by states. It simply says that the state can deny the power of corporations, trade associations, nonprofits, and other “artificial persons” to donate to political causes. Businesses chartered in other states can’t spend political money in the state.

Wow!

The same analysis is now available in audio format, as Richardson narrates in podcast.
PZ Myers provides yet another fairly open case of corruption, this time geographically close. It’s kind of in‑your‑face.

Owners of a private prison try to sell the prison to Minnesota for $75 million.
Minnesota says $75 million is absurdly high and answers HELL no!

The owners contribute $½ million to the Trump inaugural committee.
ICE buys the same prison for $495 million.

So what say, folks? Maybe newly elected Democrats should investigate?
CalicoJack in The Psy of Life asks whether Democrats can leap from saving the election to saving the Republic.

The Blunami Illusion: Can Democrats save the Republic and not Just the Election?

He ponders whether Democrats can resist what he calls The Blunami Illusion.
Dave Columbo reminds newly victorious Democrats that lots of folks who voted for them are not Democratic fans and have angry expectations:
tengrain at Mock Paper Scissors points out an underreported, unexpected, aspect of this week’s election:

…we are within reach of getting the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact enacted…

It’s cleverly named so that the acronym spells NPVIC, pronounced nnphviv, so it’s easy to remember.

Somewhat more important, it might effectively neuter the Electoral College, putting us closer to majority rule in electing a President.

Which is pretty much how a Constitutional Republic, or any democratic system, is supposed to work.
At The Onion, Chuck Schumer delivers a victory speech to a previously enthusiastic crowd.
In Canadian satire, The Beaverton is there as Hakeem Jeffries, Chuck Schumer insist now is not the time to punish convicted rapist Russell Brand.

While we accept the jury’s finding that Brand was guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault in incidents involving four women, we feel comfortable speaking on behalf of the victims and saying the important thing now is to move forward
Journalist Marcy Wheeler at EmptyWheel goes into detail, addressing critics of Hakeem Jeffries:

Her reasoning goes to two points:

Whatever else you think about the race for Speaker, you will not replace the man poised to become the first Black Speaker after he helped win seats in the Deep South in the year SCOTUS overturned voting rights.

Nor should you want to.

But even before you get to that, you need to understand that, no matter how much you hate Jeffries, to a member of Congress coming into one of the biggest majorities in a century, he looks pretty good at his job.

She builds a compelling case:

Hakeem Jeffries is leading the Dem caucus, he’s not leading the resistance. There actually are great leaders of the resistance, who don’t have to keep 160 moderate Dems on the same page as the progressives you like far more.

He’s leading it, moreover, with the hopes that it can provide results that will help President AOC or President Ossoff or President Kelly not just get elected, but retain a huge majority so they can really start restoring the country again.
The Propaganda Professor proposes 18 questions responsible journalists should be posing to J.D. Vance.

Beginning with

Your boss has declared that Representative Ilhan Omar should resign because she supposedly was born with a different name. What is your position on that, James Donald Bowman? How do you suppose Sen. Raphael Cruz would feel about it? Or former president Leslie King?

That last, by the way, was Gerald Ford. Something I had to look up.
Right Wing Watch brings us Jared Taylor, of the Council of Conservative Citizens, praising Donald Trump for making America White again:
Jared Taylor speaks:

A few Irishmen and Poles get caught in ICE’s net. I know a German who wanted an H1‑B and can’t get one under the new rules, but the overwhelming effect is to make America white again.
Josh Johnson is able to offer a credible impression of Obama and reacts to Obama’s reaction to Republican reactions to the Cheese Factory:
As in That’s what they were offended by?
Annie Asks You sees the best thing about Tuesday was the best about America.

Adversity creates fertile territory for hatred. Trump and his creeps played that card as hard as they could.

And they have been roundly rebuked.

She counts the ways.
At The Moderate Voice, US military veteran David Robertson celebrates Tuesday’s victory for the US Constitution.

It is no secret that some of the losing GOP candidates and their supporters attacked winning Democratic candidates because of the latter’s religious beliefs.

That there is one of the flaws of the modern GOP. It has been taken over by people who want the USA to be turned into a theocracy of their liking.
In The Life and Times of Bruce Gerencser, Bruce explains his frequent absence for severe health issues.

My note (among those from many others) to Bruce:

Those who read you as often as we can have noticed your absence.
You are a source of thoughtful wisdom.
That you are occasionally unselfish in sharing your story, including health issues have sparked a human concern at your pause in posting.

Your wisdom contributes to my development.
It doesn’t tax my imagination to think others, like me, join a higher concern for your wellbeing.

You have a host of friends hoping for the best, Bruce.
Take care, my friend.
SilverAppleQueen has been feeling unwell and finds out she has high blood pressure.
Most important:

… my doctor called & I’m going in on Monday.

That was this past Monday.

Close behind:
She has her cats.
driftglass notes the 100th anniversary of the death of Harry Houdini with a story of how Houdini became the cause of the love by boyhood driftglass of books.
In a new rendition of Ask Mister Language Person, Dave Barry begins his explanation of the importance of basic literacy skills with a tragic story of young stranded people unable to spell SOS.

And that is only the start of this series of incidents providing valuable linguistic lessons.
The great Sarah Cooper demonstrates that, as it turns out, she can dance like Jessica Paré:
@whiskeywhistle98, apparently, is feeling no pain:
In Georgia baseball, The Savanna Bananas teach us always, and in all ways, to support our pitcher: