A friend recently sent me a very interesting map. The Red and Orange sections allegedly have equal populations. This seems consistent with everything else I have seen from other sources.

One instantly notes that the fringe places have several things in common. They are run by Democrats, they are extremely expensive places to live, there are serious crime problems, and in most cases election results are predictable. Democrats always win. There is one, very recent, exception, Florida. Ron DeSantis won in Dade County. Wait, Dade County, as in Miami-Dade County? Wow! So, what happened.

The answer is Florida Senate Bill 90. It strengthened existing vote ID laws, banned ballot harvesting, and prohibited unsolicited mass mailing of ballots. Seems pretty obvious.

One big change was vote by mail ballots are only sent to individuals that requested them. Each political party, and every candidate, is guaranteed access to observe signature matching reviews by canvassing boards. It also prohibited private money from administering elections by prohibiting election supervisors from accepting donations or grants to fund any aspect of election administration or operations.

Here is a link to the entire law if anyone is interested: CS/CS/CS/SB 90 (flsenate.gov)

This year the polls in Florida closed at 7:00 p.m. Most of the results were published by 8:00 p.m. There were very few disputes. People in Florida went to bed knowing who had won. Now contrast that with Florida in 2000, when the elections were run by Democrats in places like, gasp, Miami-Dade, and Broward Counties. The Presidential election took weeks. There were these remarkable images of election clerks looking through magnifying glasses at individual ballots searching for “hanging chads.” Finally, the Supreme Court got involved, said you can’t just count votes in places where Democrats (Al Gore) are likely to win. That was a 7-2 decision. Then, because everyone was running out of time, the Supreme Court ordered Florida to stop counting with the result that George W. Bush was declared the winner. That was a 5-4 decision.

If you think things are bad now, just imagine 8 years with someone as delusional as Al Gore in the Oval Office. Actually, just reflect on the great results over the last two years and it would probably be pretty similar.

Look at the results this year. What states gave quick and accurate election results. What states are still counting, and specifically what counties in those states are, again, the problem.

It is obvious, the most advanced nation on this earth can’t run an election in a manner than anyone trusts. Remember that Democrats are just as likely to claim an election was stolen as Republicans. The “potential” new Speaker of the House, Hakeem Jeffries, is an election denier who consistently claimed that Donald Trump was not a legitimate president.

Republicans now control the House, and they must seize the day to make elections more efficient, fairer, and more transparent. They could do worse that pay attention to the results in Florida.  Failure to do this and we will continue to have more and more “fringe management” by the same people who are systematically destroying the areas they control.

TDM

If you want to know who won and who lost the 2022 midterms, just consider the following. Nancy Pelosi has decided to coast off into the sunset. She will not run for any leadership position in the new House. In addition, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Democratic Whip Jim Clyburn also withdrew from House leadership. It looks like Hakeem Jeffries will take over as Minority Leader. There are also reports of Katherine Clark taking over position 2 and Pete Aguilar position 3.

Perhaps you have heard next to nothing about any of the above. That would not be surprising, because none of them have actually accomplished anything. But that does not prevent them from being considered rising stars in the Democratic Party, which may say more about the Democratic Party bench then it does about them.

Up until a couple of days ago, both Hoyer and Clyburn were hesitating regarding keeping their leadership positions. Obviously, the handwriting or perhaps hand wringing was on the wall, and they suddenly realized they are all so yesterday. Nancy Pelosi is not someone I admired, but she was a very skilled and effective leader. Like her or not, she ran the Democratic caucus with an iron fist. Whatever Nancy wanted; Nancy got with few exceptions. Those exceptions often paid a very high price for “feeling” independent.

With Nancy in power, Democrats would worked very hard, behind the scenes, to make Kevin McCarthy’s life difficult. It is far from certain Hakeem Jeffries can come close to achieving that. Nancy was getting a lot of heat from people like the members of the squad. But there were afraid of her, so she still got her way the vast majority of the time. No one is afraid of Hakeem Jeffries.

This reminds me of when I saw Willie Brown, former Speaker of the Assembly in California in action. He was finally termed out of office, but before that he was the master of his own universe. I was there to testify at a hearing. One of the members on the committee asked a question Willie Brown did not like. He called a luncheon break. When we came back, Willie announced that there had been a change in committee assignments, this person had been replaced, and by the way, he now had a new office on a different floor. The only thing shocking about this was that Willie Brown did this so publicly. We can be certain that the Nancy Pelosi’s of this world perfected the art of this type of gamesmanship, but usually behind closed doors.

But that is all gone. She remains in office, technically, until January, but she is one gone girl. I doubt that she will do much of anything during the next six weeks. Why bother. So “not my problem anymore.” I expected leadership changes at the speed of light, but this makes light look like a turtle in comparison. This all literally happened while you were sleeping.

We already know who the major players in the Republican party will be. That will be people like Kevin McCarthy, Jim Jordan, Steve Scalise, and Ellie Stefanik, Most of the Republicans who opposed Trump are gone. They have been replaced by younger, smarter, hungrier people. You will soon learn about a lot more of them. They will be competing, finally, on a level playing field with people like AOC and the squad. If you are a Democrat, this should terrify you. Actually, it won’t actually be level. People like AOC are already finding themselves on the bottom looking up, begging for someone, anyone to notice. No one will. Keven McCarthy gets to be Speaker of the House, but he won’t be another weak Paul Ryan clone. Keven was given the ball and told to pay hardball or else. He got the message.

One of the problems with people who have had almost unlimited power is that they seldom leave gracefully with any dignity. None of the top Democrats who just quit, did so because of the greater good. They didn’t do so, regardless of what they say, to turn over the reins to younger people. No, they left for the simple reason they had no place left to go. They faced two years of despair, where nothing they said mattered. They realized they would be treated by Republicans under Kevin McCarthy the same way Democrats treated Republicans under Nancy Pelosi. No attempt to listen. No attempt to compromise. Just vote after vote, with only Republican votes counting while voiceless Democrats watch helplessly from the side lines. The calls for bipartisanship for the greater good have already fallen on deaf eyes. It is about time. Republicans learned the hard way about trying to negotiate with people who have zero interest in compromising on anything.

Well, I woke up this morning and all the gloating, arrogance of the Democratic Party disappeared within hours. At least Nancy Pelosi, James Clyburn and Steny Hoyer are old enough to remember the Kenny Rogers song. “You got to know when to hold them, know when to fold them, know when to walk away, know when to run.” It is easy to tell who has the winning hand, and who does not. Look who is running away, as far and as fast as possible. Gone Girl. About time.

TDM

Donald Trump is officially running for President, again. Let the games begin. We can be certain of several things. One is that those who hate him, and that is a very large group, will do everything possible to stop him. We can expect more criminal investigations, based on zero evidence, that are only dismissed after months of bad press. We can expect Trump to continue his long-established pattern of trash talking political opponents. In other words, a repeat of what happened during his first run for President and during his entire presidency.

One thing is absolutely certain, no one has been attacked as viciously and unfairly as Donald Trump. He is never given the benefit of the doubt, anytime, anywhere, on any subject. Up until now, what his enemies failed to understand is that by trashing him, they elevated him. It is quite simple, whether people hate Trump, love Trump, or just tolerate Trump, everyone watches Trump. It is sometimes said that there is no such thing as bad publicity. Trump probably wrote the book on that.

This is hard to predict, but one thing Trump will do is point out, vividly, the failures of the Biden administration. He has no shortage of material. If he can control himself and continue to make his story like he did last night in Mar-a-logo, it would be unwise to ignore him. One reason is that the only person more despised that Donald Trump is Joe Biden. Biden is Trump on steroids, without the competence. If this ends up a campaign between Trump and Biden, don’t bet against Trump.

But it may not be between Trump and Biden. It is far from certain that Biden will be physically able to run. And there are certainly a lot of powerful Democrats who have seen enough and want Joe to leave, one way or the other. On the other hand, there are a lot of Never-Trumper Republicans who feel exactly the same way about Trump. The RINO Never-Trumpers are the same people who have been losing elections for decades. They are, ironically, the primary reason for many people embracing Trump in the first place. Sometimes you are known best by your enemies. Trump has been truly blessed by the quality of those who hate him. In addition to Democrats and the MSM, this includes the cultured elite segment of the Republican Party that still believes gracefully is the highest honor.

But there is another dynamic at play here. I have a lot of friends who supported Trump and thought he made good decisions as President. But lately, they are expressing frustration with Trump because of his self-destructive tendencies. They begin to question whether he is worth it anymore. Ironically when Trump took a couple of cheap shots at Ron DeSantis, the person most impacted negatively was Trump himself. Trashing Democrats and RINOs, who usually have it coming, is great fun. Trashing a very effective and well-respected Republican governor, not so much. DeSantis has not responded at all, which just made Trump’s tirade look small and petty.

Ironically Trump actually has a long list of accomplishments. If he just focused on them, he would do very well. He doesn’t have to exaggerate; the real accomplishments are more than enough. But he can’t seem to resist. Trump, like a lot of other politicians had a deep seeded need to elevate everything he does to a whole new level. He is far from the only one to do that, Biden does it all the time with his ridiculous stories about imaginary accomplishments that are mostly irrelevant. Hillary Clinton does this too, with equally ridiculous imaginary accomplishments. My favorite is that for years she claimed she was named after Sir Edmund Hillary, the man who conquered Mt. Everest. The problem is that she was five years old before the climbed Mt. Everest and before that few people even knew he existed.

Things are going to change, and this is going to happen as the speed of light. The current leaders are old and getting older. If Donald Trump were to be elected President in 2024, he would become a lame duck President before he took the oath of office.  People will be looking for his replacement before he has time to rearrange the furniture.

One way or another, there will be a whole class of new leaders in the next few years. Some of the replacements are already visible, others are waiting quietly in the wings. Mitch McConnell is still the Minority Leader of the Senate, but he is not the future leader of Republicans in the Senate. Kevin McCarthy is very likely to be Speaker of the House, but in order for him to stay in power, he must pay attention to the strong conservatives in the House. Things are changing and one way to see reality is to pay attention to the Don’s early light. Two things have already happened that change everything. One is that the House Oversight Committee with now be headed by James Comer, and he has already announced he is coming for Hunter and his dad. About time. The second is that the Washington Post just admitted that the raid on Mar-a-logo was unnecessary and found absolutely nothing:

Federal agents and prosecutors have come to believe former president Donald Trump’s motive for allegedly taking and keeping classified documents was largely his ego and a desire to hold on to the materials as trophies or mementos, according to people familiar with the matter.

That review has not found any apparent business advantage to the types of classified information in Trump’s possession, these people said. FBI interviews with witnesses so far, they said, also do not point to any nefarious effort by Trump to leverage, sell or use the government secrets. Instead, the former president seemed motivated by a more basic desire not to give up what he believed was his property, these people said.

Once again, the walls closing in on Donald Trump, closed on the people investigating him. Just when Democrats thought it was safe to go back into the water, everything changed. Now it will be Republicans in charge of committees doing real investigations and unlike the Schiff nonsense, they actually have a lot of facts and evidence. This time it is Democrats who may be feeling those walls closing in, only with real walls.

Those who write Trump off are ignoring history. His personality is unlikely to change, but what goes around comes around and it is coming around big time. Once again, Trump may find himself buoyed by those seeking to destroy him, only to elevate his importance. It is as simple as this, the more they attack him, the more obvious that they fear him. The Don’s early light is “I’m still here and the more you attack me the more you risk destroying yourselves.”

Here comes the sun. Enjoy the view.

TDM

It is clear that Donald Trump is not taking the mid-term election results well. He has claimed full credit for anyone who won and blamed everyone but himself for anyone who lost. He is taking cheap shots at anyone he thinks might possibly stand between him and the coveted Republican nomination for 2024. Some of them, like Glen Younkin, will fight back. Others, like Ron DeSantis will just ignore him. The usual class of RINOs are gathering to try and defeat Trump, one last time. It is understandable why so many people don’t like Trump. He is famous for tooting his own horn, failing to realize that, in some cases, he is just drowning out deserved praise he was already receiving. This is going to be interesting. One thing is certain, the Don is not likely to go quietly.

But the bigger problem is that we are already getting advice from RINO republicans famous for losing elections. They passionately believe that being reasonable and seeking compromise with Democrats is the secret to success. They are wrong. Democrats have zero interest in compromising with Republicans. During the last four years, while Nancy Pelosi was in charge, there was zero attempt to compromise about anything. Instead, bills were passed on strict party lines in both the House and the Senate. They got zero Republican support, other than from people like Liz Cheney, Mitt Romney and Lisa Murkowski who just love caving in, for the better good, just when victory is within grasp. One thing Republicans need to learn is to just do what you said you would do, without regard to how Democrats feel about anything. For one thing, this is necessary, because Democrats never ever compromise. They would rather the country fail than to see a Republican win. It is in their DNA.

Some have suggested that Republicans should focus on passing good laws and getting things done. That is naïve. Unless Republicans win control of the Senate, which now seems unlikely, the Senate will block everything, unless Republicans surrender in the worst conceivable way at the worst possible time. Then, even if they got by the Senate, Joe would promptly veto it anyway. So, what they should do is vote on what they want, and let the Democrats vote against it and move on. But they should also use the power of the Speakership to investigate things that desperately need investigation. They should start with reforming the January 6^th committee, to investigate the failures by Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer. They should form a committee to investigate election integrity, not by pretending there is nothing wrong, but rather by documenting the facts and exposing the American people, and the MSM to those facts. The facts, although ignored, are still facts. And they should also investigate Hunter Biden, and people like Adam Schiff and others. Democrats never hesitate to investigate a Republican. Republicans should not hesitate to investigate a Democrat who deserves it. The only difference is that Republicans should focus on facts and not hyperbole.

They absolutely should investigate election integrity and demand action to transform our elections to something that people can trust. They owe it to themselves, they owe it to the American people, and they even owe it to Democrats. Just do the right thing, for the right reason.

Barry Goldwater is given credit for saying that: “extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. Moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.” That was actually written by his speech writer, Karl Hess. But it has never been truer. If we do not stand up for liberty, true liberty, then we are doomed. If we do not hold truly evil people accountable, then we are doomed. This does not mean that we should assume that all Democrats are evil and that all Republicans are virtuous. That is simply not true. But we must recognize those who have zero interest in playing by the rules and who are only interested in raw political power, with no regard to how it is achieved, and we must stop them.

Until Democrats start being willing to negotiate in good faith, Republicans should not negotiate with them. Compromising with evil is not a virtue.

Republicans need to change the messaging on abortion. They need to agree to limitations in the event of rape and incest and the life of the mother. Those cases are extremely rare, and they are not the real problem. The real problem is the thousands if not millions of abortions done primarily because the pregnancy is considered to be inconvenient. Most people are opposed to abortion, and if Republicans stop fighting about a small insignificant number of exceptions, they will leave Democrats with only one, losing argument, that abortion does not involve the killing of an innocent life. That is an argument they cannot win. We must take away the false moral argument based on an extremely small number of rare, but truly horrific circumstances allowing the truly evil to pretend this is the higher moral ground.

Finally, Republicans need to wake up. Democrats stole the 2020 election. They stole the 2022 midterms. They used the same methods, in the same places, in the same way. If they are not stopped, they will continue doing this. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me, fool me every time and welcome to CNN. We know exactly what Democrats do, when they do it, and where they do it. It is not that Republicans are pure as the driven snow, they aren’t, it is just that Democrats have perfected the art of the steal. Failure to realize that is an enormous mistake. If we really care, we need to develop a strategy to make this impossible. Before it happens, not after it happens. Every poll shows that the vast majority of Americans want fair and honest elections. That includes most Democrats.

Most of all, we must accept the reality that Donald Trump, agent Orange, has become an unnecessary distraction. We owe him a debt of gratitude, for addressing issues everyone else ignored and for keeping his promises. But, whether fair or not, Democrats and their fawning supporters in the MSM have made this all about Donald Trump. They hate him, and he lives within their heads. That is fun to watch, but this is bigger than any person, including Donald Trump. And, recently, he has forgotten what made him so effective and is increasingly focused solely on himself. It is easy to understand his frustration and anger. No one has been treated more unfairly than him. But the issues facing this country are far more important than any individual, and that includes Donald Trump.

He is unlikely to go quietly, but the values he fought for are far more important than the ego of one individual. We cannot be distracted from the vital issues facing us today, even by someone to whom we owe a debt of gratitude for having the courage and the wisdom to listen to those who had been ignored by both parties.

Agent Orange saved a lot of lives in Vietnam. It also killed a lot of servicemen who were exposed to it. Both are true, both are important.

TDM

When Vietnam Veterans meet each other, they often say “welcome home” rather than “thank you for your service.” There is a reason for that. Vietnam veterans were not welcomed home. At least not in a way that generates positive memories. I still remember when I arrived in LAX, after my last tour in Vietnam. I was exhausted, from spending three tours flying on combat missions and from the long flight home from Vietnam. I just wanted to go home. But there to greet me in the airport were some hippy looking malcontents who spit on me and called me a war criminal. I have talked to many Vietnam veterans who describe very similar circumstances. This didn’t have the impact on me they expected, I just laughed at them and walked away. I realized that these clowns had no concept regarding what was going on in Vietnam and they couldn’t begin to understand words like honor and courage. They were not worth one minute of my time.

When I finally got home, my next assignment was at Offutt AFB, hear Omaha, Nebraska. One of the first things we were told upon arrival at Offutt was to not wear our uniforms off base. We were told that would just make us a target. There were no parades, no celebrations, no welcome home parties. We just left a war zone 24 and returned home to people who didn’t have a clue regarding what we had seen and done. At best, people felt sorry for us.

I still remember a day, over 25 years later, when I was shopping at a store in San Rafael. I was wearing a jacket with a Vietnam Veteran patch my wife had sewn on the jacket. It was the first time I had ever worn anything identifying me as a Vietnam veteran. I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around and there was an older woman standing there, she said “thank you for you service.” I was absolutely stunned. It was the first time anyone thanked me for serving in Vietnam. I almost cried.

Things are better now. Vietnam veterans are treated with more respect. We are often thanked for our service. But we still never received the welcome home that other veterans had received when they came home from previous wars. I have another shirt, that I seldom wear. It says: “I am one of those guys you hated while I was fighting for you. I have forgiven you, but I have not forgotten.” I seldom wear this, because although this is accurate, it is not something I wish to dwell on.

A few years ago, I was in a car with a friend of mine, who unbeknownst to me had been an anti-war protestor. Somehow the subject of Vietnam came up, and I told him about some of the things I saw over there. I told him about the brutality of the NVA and the Vietcong, particularly toward civilians. I talked about interviewing some survivors of when the NVA and the Vietcong took over Hue, for a while, during the Tet offensive. Since I was a Vietnamese linguist and spoke Vietnamese, I was often the “only” American they had ever met who could understand what they needed to say.  This person who was normally very talkative didn’t say anything. Then very quietly he said: “I’m sorry, I didn’t know.” I was too stunned to respond.

That is the real tragedy of the Vietnam War. Not that we didn’t come home to a hero’s welcome, just surviving, and making it home was more than enough. The real tragedy of Vietnam is that so many people remain oblivious to the evil we were fighting over there and the horrible price paid by the Vietnamese people who foolishly believed the United States was a trustworthy ally.

When I meet someone who escaped from Vietnam, often at great personal sacrifice and risk, and they learn I still speak some Vietnamese, they almost always want to tell me their story. Some of these stories are beyond shocking. I came to realize that the people who paid the highest price was not necessary those who fought in that war, but those who had to endure so much when we just quit on them. I remain stunned that so many of them love this country and are very loyal Americans. They would be more than justified in being bitter and angry. I sometimes apologize to them, on behalf of our government, for abandoning them. They always appreciate that. They did feel abandoned, but they felt something else too. A deep appreciation for the better life that awaited them if they could somehow make it to the United States.

When Donald Trump proposed having a big veterans day parade in Washington, D.C. that would have been really special. If he had invited all Vietnam Veterans to say “thank you for your service” we would have showed up in droves. The parade was cancelled, partly because Democrats opposed anything suggested by Donald Trump. It is too bad, because it could have been very special and might have healed a lot of wounds.

At least now there are few people who admit to being anti-war protestors. Most people do say “thank you for your service”, and they mean it. That is a good thing. But when you see a Vietnam Veteran, don’t say “thank you for your service,” although we always appreciate that. Say “welcome home.” It will mean more than you can possibly imagine.

TDM

It is impossible to celebrate the results of the mid-term elections. Something is very wrong here. When 75% of the people think the country is headed in the wrong direction, why would they vote for Democrats. Why would anyone consider voting for someone like John Fetterman to be their senator. The answer is easy, just look at the map. The same places that produced unbelievable results in 2020 produced unbelievable results in 2022. Does anyone really think that elections run in places like Philadelphia are even close to fair and honest. Does any anyone suffer from the delusion that elections in Detroit are pure as the driven snow. Does anyone believe places like Milwaukee and Madison even pretend to be fair. Does anyone trust the vote count in Atlanta? The sad reality is that for Republicans to win, in states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia and Arizona, they must win by margins so large that Democrats can’t steal enough vote to make up the difference.

However, this does not mean that Democrats won. They didn’t. Republicans will control the House. A lot of those new Republican congressional representatives are a whole new breed. They are going to demand change, including change within the leadership of their own party. They aren’t coming to Washington on a mission to go along to get along with the same ole, same ole. Republicans may also win the Senate, although that is too close to call as of this morning.

Another big loser is Donald Trump. Every poll shows the same thing. People hate Joe Biden, but they also hate Donald Trump. They tolerated Joe because he is very old and may not even last out his first term in office and few would consider him likely to serve another six years. No one wants him replaced by Kamala Harris.  But incredibly, Joe Biden remains the person least likely to lose to Donald Trump, and that is all that matters. The hatred of Donald Trump, whether deserved or not, is all too real.

No candidate, no person, has endured more unfair, unrelenting personal attacks than Donald Trump. None of them has worked, but all of them have inflicted damage. All of us are sick of seeing this and equally sick of Donald Trump responding with cheap, sometimes unnecessary, verbal attacks. There is no doubt that if he runs for President, again, the assaults will become even more severe and unrelenting. If he is elected, there will be an addition four years of this. There is zero chance he will be able to unite the country behind him. This is really unfortunate because Trump actually accomplished a lot while he was President.

If Trump is smart, he will delay announcing his run for the President and possibly consider just riding off into the sunset. Many of the candidates he endorsed won primary elections, but they are not winning in the general election. Even if they do win, it will be by the slimmest possible margin. If he withdraws now, he will have had a major positive impact, unprecedented impact on this country. If he is no longer a threat to become President, people will quickly tire of the unrelenting personal assaults on him.

The bottom line is that everything has changed. Republicans will win control of the House. Nancy Pelosi will be sent off into the sunset, and at her age, never to return. Even if Democrats hold the Senate, they won’t be able to do anything other than block Republicans. Some Democratic senators are likely to cross over because they realize that would be a huge mistake.

Republicans will take over House committee, which will immediately end the sham January 6^th committee, will remove people like Adam Schiff and Erik Swalwell from positions of power and hearings in the house will be far more balanced with people asked tough questions. There will be investigations regarding Hunter Biden, and they will be devastating.

There will also be major changes in the MSM. We have already seen some of this and we will see more in the future. The current group of anchors and reporters will be replaced by a new class, guaranteed to be different than their predecessors. One of the few things certain in life is that each new generation will be deliberately different than their parents. Sometimes the change is good, sometimes it is bad and sometimes it is horrible, but change is inevitable.

A lot of people, in both parties, looked at Florida and went wow! Four years ago, Ron DeSantis won by less than 1%. His opponent in that race was Andrew Gillum, who is currently under indictment for charges of conspiracy, wire fraud and making false statements. This year his opponent was Charlie Crist, former GOP Governor of Florida. Crist lost by close to 20 points. Republicans also won all across the board, all across the state, including in places like Miami Dade where it used to be unsafe for Republicans to go outside at night.

This happened because Ron DeSantis focused on doing his job and getting things done. He also ignored advice from older, wiser, heads and reopened the state, kept the schools open and the results are that Florida did just as well with Covid than other states that followed the non-scientific science by locking things down, forcing everyone to wear masks, and mandating questionable vaccines while accomplishing nothing other than the destruction of their state economies. The result was that thousands of people moved to Florida from places like New York and when they got here, they voted for people like Ron DeSantis. In other words, they not only voted with their feet, but they also voted with their votes.

It was depressing to see these results, until I realized something very important. Democrats still own this, all of it, and if they can’t turn things around, which they can’t, the real Red Wave will happen is less than two years. The only thing that can prevent that now is Donald Trump, and if he gets out of the way, Democrats will be left standing on the shore, watching an unprecedented Red Wave unable to distract people by screaming insults at Donald Trump.

TDM

There are a lot of myths about a full moon. Most of them are not true. For example, many people believe hospital emergency rooms are always flooded during a full moon. Certainly, a lot of emergency room physicians believe that. The following article addresses the myths and the math regarding this subject:

Is the ER really any wilder during a full moon? DOs weigh in – The DO (osteopathic.org)

One thing is certain, you can see more clearly at night if there is a full moon. In addition, a full moon can be very pretty. It seems likely that a full moon does impact some people, if only because it is really obvious. Who knows what triggers some people to do weird things.

That brings me to my point. It is obvious that this midterm election is going to be wild. Some people are predicting an enormous red wave. Some are predicting it won’t be “that” bad. No one is predicting that Democrats will have a good night, just a potential they can hang on to the Senate by the skin of their teeth. They already hold on by the skin of their teeth because the vote is 50/50 and they have zero margin for error.

So, I thought it would good to research November 8, 2022, to see if perhaps God has an opinion. Well Glory Be it turns out there will be a full lunar eclipse on November 8^th.

SVS: November 8, 2022 Total Lunar Eclipse: Visibility Map (nasa.gov)

This includes the entire United States. One has to wonder what this means. Did God decide to hide the moon to hold the lunatics at bay. Perhaps I am wrong about this, but that would seem to benefit Republicans. At least based on what people say publicly, the loony tunes sure seem to gravitate to positions held dear by the DNC. If they were scared to go out, because the moon is missing, well there you go!

By the way, the darkest areas appear to be Washington, Oregon, and California. Florida, on the other hand, not so much. Could that also be an omen?

The reality right now is that things look scary good if you are a Republican. How good? Well, the Republican running for the Senate against Maggie Hassan in New Hampshire appears to have a chance at winning. No one expected this, Mitch McConnell gave up and decided to spend his money supporting Murkowski in Alaska. An interesting decision, regardless of what one thinks about Murkowski, because her opponent is a Republican. It just doesn’t seem to make sense to spend money on a Senate race where Republicans win regarding of the outcome. Was Mitch, perhaps, influenced by a full moon?

It also appears that Republicans may even have a chance to beat Patty Murray in Washington. I wouldn’t bet on that, but if it really happened, this would elevate the Republican red wave to a full-scale tsunami.

It is sometimes said that we seldom realize our greatest hopes or worst fears. That is certainly true now. The only thing certain is that Democrats appear to be quaking in fear and Republicans are trying to suppress grins. Watch closely, because that full moon will disappear, briefly, next Wednesday and when the light comes back, we may see a whole new political landscape.

TDM

If you look closely at the pictures of Nancy Pelosi’s house in San Francisco, one thing is very obvious. There are security cameras all over the place. One suspects that there are also a lot of security cameras located on other homes in that area. This means that there almost certainly have to be pictures of David Depape and possibly Paul Pelosi prior to when police showed up at that house.

We have security cameras at our house, and I know how this works. There is zero chance someone could get anywhere near my house without triggering an alarm. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that those cameras on the Pelosi house were monitored by a central station. At a minimum, there is almost certainly a DVR that records everything, and it marks times when the camera detects motion,

We already know that the “ex” of David Depape gave a phone interview from her prison cell. Oxane “Gypsy” Taub is apparently incarcerated in the California Institution for Women, after being convicted on abduction charges in 2021.

Pelosi attacker David DePape’s ex says he is ‘mentally ill,’ once came home thinking he was Jesus: report (msn.com)

“He came back in very bad shape. He thought he was Jesus. He was constantly paranoid, thinking people were after him. And it took a good year or two to get back to, you know, being halfway normal,” Taub told the outlet.

Pressed about DePape’s political leanings, Taub said he had never been particularly involved.

“When I met him, he was only 20 years old , and he didn’t have any experience in politics, and he was very much in alignment with my views, and I’ve always been very progressive. I absolutely admire Nancy Pelosi,” she said.

There is a video of an interview with his neighbor. There are reports he was living in a yellow school bus located outside the home of his ex. Although the news media is extremely unlikely to show this video, you can see it on YouTube.

Actual interview of neighbors of David DePape. – Bing video

This is hardly the type of person likely to spend hours posting articles about the stolen election etc. Frankly, he doesn’t seem to be the type of person who communicates very well with anyone.

This is not the first time someone targeted that house. Someone painted graffiti on the garage door overnight during New Years 2021. Among other things it said :”We want everything.” It is doesn’t look like something one would expect from a mysterious right-wing group supporting Donald Trump.

The police story is changing significantly. First Paul Pelosi said this was a friend, said his name was David, and asked for a welfare check. Police said someone else let them in the house. There were reports Depape was found in his underwear, in Pelosi’s bedroom.

Now the police story is changing, they are walking back things reported previously. One notes the FBI is there to assist, so perhaps that explains the “verification process.”

Democrats clearly want to use this, as a minimum, of preventing Republicans from campaigning against Nancy Pelosi. Republicans, of course, criticizing Democrats is the major source of violence in America. It is pure bad luck that Republicans, like Steve Scalise have been seriously injured by people who listen to Democrats.

One thing is already obvious, the cover-up team is in full spin mode. The MSM has zero interest in sorting this out. They prefer to run with the narrative that someone broke into Nancy Pelosi’s house and beat up her husband because they were fueled by right wing MAGA hatred.. End of story. What more do you need to know?

Which brings me to my point. There have to be pictures and the question is “will the FBI/DNC/San Francisco Police cover-up brigade be able to confiscate ALL of them?” We can be sure the pictures from the Pelosi cameras will never see the light of day, at least prior to the mid-term elections. The ongoing investigation blanket used to cover things up when Democrats mess up is already up and running.

But it may not work. The only thing certain at this point is that nothing about this situation adds up. Democrats might have gotten away with this if they had not tried to make Depape a right wing Republican conspiracist gone wild. But, once again, they can’t help themselves. They can never let a good tragedy go to waste. They are beyond desperate to stop the monstrous red wave just over the horizon. Ironically, if they hadn’t tried to exploit this politically, people might have just let it go. But now they have made that impossible. Eventually a sizable portion of the truth will come out, one way or another. Get the picture?

TDM

Paul Pelosi was viciously attacked at the Pelosi home in San Francisco. Obviously, this is unacceptable to anyone. We can be sure of two things. Republicans will quickly denounce the violence. Democrats will try and seize the day and take political advantage. The MSM is already starting to spin the narrative that this is the result of violence against Nancy, similar to what happened on January 6^th.

But this story gets stranger by the minute.

“Mr. Pelosi and DePape were observed by SFPD officers in the home, both holding one hammer. The suspect pulled the hammer away from Mr. Pelosi and immediately assaulted him with it, officers then tackled the suspect, SFPD Chief Bill Scott told a press conference.”

It only took five minutes of research to find out a lot about David DePape. The New York Post reported the following, which is quite remarkable.

David Depape ID’d as intruder who attacked Paul Pelosi (nypost.com)

According to his relatives, he was estranged from his family. “

Other people who had known him told CNN he had struggled with hard drugs and lived in a storage unit in the Berkley area.

He supposedly had a website and apparently posted links CNN has already described as conspiracy theories:

Alleged Pelosi attacker posted multiple conspiracy theories | CNN Politics

One conspiracy theory was that the 2020 election was stolen. (Welcome to the club.). That COVID vaccines were deadly. (Not sure he is wrong about that either). That the Democratic commission to investigate January 6^th was a farce. (He is not unique in believing that.) That the Global Elites plan to control your money. And that George Floyd actually died of a drug overdose. (He probably, unlike CNN and most of the MSM, actually read the autopsy report.) None of his posts appear to even mention Nancy Pelosi. Yet, this just seemed: “too convenient.”  It was hard for me to imagine a nude activist drug addict converting to run a conservative right wing conspiracy site and being motivated to attack Paul Pelosi. Well glory be. Now we learn that those websites were fake. Created yesterday and already deleted.

EXCLUSIVE: Two Far-Right Websites Attributed to David DePape to Smear Conservatives Were FABRICATED – They Were Created Friday and Deleted Saturday (thegatewaypundit.com)

We don’t know what actually happened. but we do know this is increasingly unlikely to be the coveted October surprise Democrats desperately need. My guess is that Mr. DePape is already yesterday’s news, the police will shut up because of an ongoing investigation, Paul Pelosi will say nothing, and the media will demand we respect the Pelosi’s privacy.

But it may not work, because this is so strange and just plain juicy. Did David DePape really invade the Pelosi home in his underwear? Why do some pictures show the glass broken outward, not inward. Who was the third person in the home. Oh my. We can be absolutely certain the MSM will not investigate this. We can also be certain other people are all over it. We can also be certain that the less you hear the more you know.

The Perils of Pelosi. Just when you thought Democrats might just be able to dive back into the water, this happens. Sometimes losing an election is the lessor of evils.

TDM

It wasn’t that long ago that RINOs ruled the Republican Party. But they didn’t rule the country, because RINOs are exceptionally good at compromising with Democrats, at the worst possible moment. Democrats never bother to compromise with them. The MSM loves RINOs because they consider them to be bipartisan, which means they cave on principle. RINOs never learn, because they view themselves to be the cultured elite, who never forget their proper role in the establishment. That includes losing gracefully to Democrats.

This year there was a war within the Republican Party between the cultured elite, meaning the RINO wing, and the MAGA wing, meaning the people who stupidly listened to Trump. Most of those MAGA Republicans beat RINO Republicans during the primary elections. RINOs were terrified, because they were certain that all those MAGA Republicans were too loud, boisterous, and uncultured to win an election against a Democrat. Democrats believed that too, which is why the DNC stupidly supported some of those MAGA candidates in the certain hope they would be easier to beat in the midterms. They both miscalculated and will pay an extremely high price for that mistake.

A funny thing happened on the way to the Forum. MAGA Republicans, certain to suffer humiliating defeats in the mid-term elections, are gaining ground rapidly on their Democratic opponents and unless something happens, and soon, they are going to sweep Democrats right out of power. In doing so, a lot of RINO dreams will go out with the tide. Mitch McConnell is stupidly funded Lisa Murkowski, the arch typical RINO now that John McCain has departed the scene. Republicans in Alaska prefer her Republican opponent. If Murkowski wins, which is far from guaranteed, it will be with second place votes originally cast in favor of a Democrat guaranteed to lose. Ranked choice voting means the results will always be rank.

Dr. Oz wasn’t given a hope of winning a Senate Seat in Pennsylvania, particularly after being endorsed by Donald Trump. While he benefited from Democrats choosing the worst possible candidate, he is still winning. More people, in both parties, are predicting that Republicans are going to win and win big. What’s more, almost all of those Republicans who ran on a platform of claiming the 2020 election was stolen, are winning. Perhaps because a majority of people not working in the MSM agree with them. They agree with them because, like, this is really obvious.

This means in addition to Republicans winning, and Democrats losing, RINO Republicans are losing too. They are losing control of the Republican Party. They are losing control of the narrative and they are losing the ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. They are deliciously losing to a new class of Republicans so naïve and stupid that a lot of them plan to keep their campaign promises. RINO Republicans are astonished that they these “new” people don’t understand the game. Don’t they realize that when dealing with Democrats, who never compromise on anything, without regard to the consequences, we need Republicans to cross over party lines for the greater good. The greater good meaning acceptance by the cultured elite who care little about the impact of policies on the little guy.

This is a reminder that the MSM and the cultured elite never understood the MAGA movement. They assume that all these people were misled and confused by the despicable lying red head named Donald Trump. They hate Donald Trump, with a passion so they missed the obvious. Donald Trump wasn’t misleading people; he was listening to them. He is a highly skilled actor who understands the need to connect with the audience. I know many people who don’t personally like Donald Trump, they are turned off by his obsession with himself. But they realize that regardless of his faults, Donald Trump actually made good decisions and things were better when he was in charge. Trump, like all good entertainers, understands his audience.

Democrats, on the other hand, remain blinded by their hatred of Trump. They hate him, so they hate anyone who supports him. Sometimes even when they actually agree with Trump supporters on a high percentage of issues. In the meantime, Trump has already put his stamp on this election. Ironically, the Democrats focus solely on him caused them to totally miss reality. The reality that Joe Biden is doing an awful job. People do notice when gas prices skyrocket. They notice when the cost of everything, including groceries is going up. In addition, they have to put up with serious supply chain problems. What fun to pay so much more for something you can’t actually get. They notice when crime escalates to the point it is affecting people in places close to home. Just ask Paul Pelosi.

In the meantime, if you want to see the last standing RINOs, they can increasingly be seen, out in the open, surrounded by nobody, talking primarily to themselves and the ghosts of RINOs past There they stand, increasingly alone, on the verge of extinction, still wondering why everyone else got this so wrong.

TDM