Hanaguma

Too late, I am here already! Have been for more than 20 years. And it is by any standard "a great country to live in". Negligible crime, clean streets, Costco, great location for exploring Asia, low taxes...

Japan?

Joe dodged a bullet on this one. Hopefully one of the takeaways for the GOP is that getting a better brand reputation for the party is crucial. People agreed largely on issues that the GOP championed- economy, inflation, crime, yet they just couldn't pull the lever for GOP candidates in many areas. And I think we all know why. The looming presence of the Bad Orange Man. His presence as a disruptor worked in 2016 but does not work in 2022. Now he is just another former president who lost. I am sincerely hoping that GOP leadership can recognize this and do what is necessary before 2024. DeSantis, Kemp, and Abbot showed how it is done. Strong campaigns, stayed on message, delivered concrete results for their respective states. Easier for governors to do than senate/house candidates for sure. But hell, Pennsylvania voted for a radical socialist zombie over a world renowned heart surgeon with actually very moderate political positions. Only reason I can think of is branding.

As for vocabulary, I have two that reallly grind my gears; "....denier". Smacks of the original biggie, the "holocaust denier". To me, it sounds like you are calling someone a neo-Nazi just for disagreeing. "climate denier", "election denier", etc. ".... phobe". Just cause I disagree doesn't make me afraid. Actual phobias are one thing (germophobe, agoraphobe), but the woke use of homophobe, transphobe, is nails on the chalkboard.

That was Matt Walsh on an AMerican tv show called The Dr. Phil Show. He has an amazing documentary film out called "What Is A Woman?" that everyone should see...

With the way the mid terms went, perhaps a "Trump annointment" is not exactly a great thing to get. Big Ron might be better off to appear as the rebel or pirate and earn the support that way.

I disagree. DeSantis just proved his bona fides last night. A huge margin of victory, great support amongst Latino voters, and sensible policies. By the next primary, Trump will have little to show for the past 3 years, if he even gets that far. The last straw might be if Trump announces his intention to run next week. There is a very good chance that might just torpedo Herschel Walker in the Senate runoff and throw the senate back to the Dems. If that happens, even the most hardcore Mega Maga might mosey.

Except for the bit about the Dems having a strong bench, this is a reasonable analysis. I think the MAGA people will gradually distance themselves over time and once Trump can be safely sidelined. They will morph back into simple conservative Republicans.

Considering the host of the DeSantis victory party was a dude married to another dude with two kids, I would say the whole "DeSatan is anti-2SLGBTQQIA+" line of attack can be safely dismissed.

Please, PLEASE run Newsom! See how many votes he gets off the coastline. DeSantis would gut him like a fish. If you only think of one thing, consider this- which state is hemorrhaging population, and which one is growing?

At t At the risk of derailing the topic, you are comparing apples to viruses. Trump's first 3 years (pre covid) were quite good economically- unemployment went from 4% to 3.5% before the lockdowns. Inflation in the 2% range. Gas two bucks a gallon. I would LOVE the Democrats to do a victory dance about the mid terms and then get complacent. Biden runs again in 2024 would be a dream for the GOP.

It is clear that Trump tainted all the normally important points that dictate a mid term election. An intensely unpopular sitting President, poor economy, large majority of the country thinking they are on the wrong track. All paled due to a large orange shadow. Trump gives the Democrats some easy cards to play. Look at Kemp, DeSantis, and Abbot to see the path forward. At least the GOP has a strong bench looking forward to 2024, the Democrats have nothing.

Now that it looks like control of the Senate (again) is down to Georgia, I would implore Trump to NOT announce anything on November 15. Other than his graceful retirement from active politics to being an emeritus type. He messed it up in 2020 in Georgia, no need for a repeat. Sorry to say, but any politician that loses 2-3 times in a row needs to step aside. Beto Orourke, Stacy Abrams, Donald Trump. The scene is better without any of them.

Great. If they are merely watching the proceedings they could easily do that from their homes on live cameras placed at the venue. Again, no need to attend in person and burn fossil fuel. Something tells me that the actual discussions wont be over 1000 people each. Zoomable

Zoom can handle up to 1000 people. How big are the gatherings at COP?

Yes, it is called Zoom. Or possibly TED. There is no need for the champagne socialists to schmooze like this, especially if they are truly worried about the climate. But I am sure they are all using paper straws, so all is forgiven.

Just being a truth teller.

True, they need to give it a rest also. I have no trouble with that. The Republicans need to be the party of the future and of freedom, not of nursing past grievances. Leave that to the other side.

Mark Twain said "golf is a good walk spoiled". A tattooed lady is "a beautiful girl spoiled".

Then you also have to apologize for lifting billions of people out of poverty, providing clean water and so on. Damn those capitalists for improving life expectancy and hygiene!

I can agree with that. His time has passed and someone needs to tell him. If the 2024 election is Biden/Trump 2.0 I will probably drink myself to death. The problem with the GOP is staying on message. It is hard to do when the media all wants to go backwards and ask 'gotcha' type questions. Once the Great Ghost of the Bad Orange Man is gone, that will fade away. I can see a ticket of Desantis/Noem rocking the world.

Merriam-Webster added the word to its dictionary in 2017, defining it as, "aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice)." But the meaning of woke evolved again with the rise of "cancel culture" -- as the two terms saw increased use, they became intertwined in the public consciousness. Often, someone gets canceled after they say something insensitive – something not woke. So in addition to meaning aware and progressive, many people now interpret woke to be a way to describe people who would rather silence their critics than listen to them. https://www.foxnews.com/us/what-does-woke-mean Fair enough?

I think we have a working definition of "woke"... just look up! Someone who obsesses about former politicians and lets them live rent free in their head. Keeps a ready made, memorized list of grievances and complaints at the ready, eager to insert them into any discussion, no matter how irrelevant.

Back to the topic at hand, I really hope he (Trump) doesnt declare his intention to run. I think I can see a hangover of his egoism in the election results tonight. Frankly, I am tired of trying to replay and rewin the 2020 election. There need to be new and more united voices moving forward. Look at Florida for an indication of what works. Governor Desantis and Senator Rubio both killed it, and without kissing the ring.

Yeah, Veep was campaigning in Massachussets, New York and California. Really pushing the envelope there and helping candidates in toss up districts get that final push they need...I guess that is hard when her likability is lower even than Trump.