Hakeem Jeffries, expected to be the next Speaker of the House of Representatives, made it clear that it was not his intention to use his majority over the next two years to seek retribution on Trump and his sycophantic enablers. Rather, he said his focus would be on “getting things done” by making life more affordable. Radley Balko makes a compelling argument about why that won’t work, and why that ignores the mandate given the Democrats by this overwhelming rejection of Trump, MAGA and the long list of people who enjoyed the fruits of corruption.

Sure, the Democrats should work with whatever sane Republicans remain in Congress to end Trump’s tariffs, get us out of the war in Iran, and do whatever else is within Congress’s power to stop this administration’s assault on the economy. Continue reading →

At the end of the movie, The Candidate, Robert Redford utters the prophetic words “What do we do now?” Indeed.

Trump was crushed yesterday. Trump, of course, blames everyone and everything but himself, because that’s what Trump does. He told his faithful to pretend he was on the ballot. They did. Regardless, the outcome is a monumental repudiation of Trump. This cannot be denied.

But that doesn’t mean it’s an endorsement of the Democrats, and even more pointedly, either wing of the Democratic Party. Winning in Texas, Kansas and Iowa certainly isn’t an endorsement of the left-wing agenda, even if El-Sayed prevailed in Michigan. The Democrats didn’t win because they’re so beloved. They’re not. They won, but only because they weren’t Trump. Continue reading →

It’s been a grueling campaign season. Ridiculous amounts of money have paid for a relentless stream of television advertisements ranging from the flagrantly deceitful to the overtly disgusting. But it’s now over and time for decisions to be made. Will this be the end of the 2026 midterms or the start of a new round of games to undermine democracy?

Trump will now be officially the lamest of ducks, not that it will stop him from efforts to impose his aesthetics upon a nation that doesn’t share his adoration of goldish doodads and the construction of monuments to his imagined glory. The war of choice in Iran remains unresolved and unresolvable, the Epstein files remain undisclosed, the enemies of Trump remain perpetual targets of prosecution by a Justice Department that exists to do Trump’s bidding, America’s standing in the world has been reduced to an untrustworthy pariah and prices at the pump and the grocery store continue to crush Americans. Continue reading →

Political polling is nothing new. I got a job doing political polling back in the 1970s, cold calling random people on a list to ask about their affiliation and who they would be voting for. Most people hung up on me. Some were all too happy to engage and tell me far more than I asked. In the end, it meant nothing.

Today, we’re inundated by polls. From what we’re being told, it would appear that the Democrats will take the House of Representatives and have an outside chance of taking a majority in the Senate. Will it be a blue wave, a tsunami or will it be a puddle? Trump says the polls show his support to be overwhelming and his endorsees will take it all. What polls he’s talking about is something of a mystery. Continue reading →

Tight though that outcome of the Michigan primary was between Haley Stevens and Abdul El-Sayed, there was a winner, and that winner was Abdul El-Sayed. His candidacy reveals a fracture within the Democratic Party that can’t be easily ignored or smoothed over. Two things have been made overwhelmingly clear as a result of this. There is a unified Democratic Party against Trump and MAGA, and there is an insurmountable schism within the Democrats as to whether they are the party of liberals or the party of left-wing progressives.

There is supposed to be a unity rally in Michigan today, brokered by Representatives Debbie Dingell of Michigan and James E. Clyburn of South Carolina, where Stevens and El-Sayed would both appear and link arms against the MAGA menace. It’s fallen apart. Continue reading →

Friends, next week we’ll return to Sheriff Roy’s latest adventures. This week? We’re celebrating one of the three best holidays of the year! That’s right, kids of all ages: TOMORROW IS HALLOWEEN!

My family and I love Halloween. What’s not to like about a day when ghouls, ghosts, long-legged beasties and things that go “bump” in the night roam our streets in search of candy? Our kids get to dress up, the adults load up cartoonishly large adult beverages in Yeti tumblers and we walk the streets soaking in the fall atmosphere.

It’s a good time. Continue reading →

The Ninth Circuit was faced with a very tough conflict. California’s law, SB 399, prohibited employers from forcing their employees to listen to religious or political speech upon pain of adverse job consequences.

[a]n employer, [with exceptions not relevant here], shall not subject, or threaten to subject, an employee to discharge, discrimination, retaliation, or any other adverse action because the employee declines to attend an employer-sponsored meeting or affirmatively declines to participate in, receive, or listen to any communications with the employer or its agents or representatives, the purpose of which is to communicate the employer’s opinion about religious or political matters. An employee who is working at the time of the meeting and elects not to attend a meeting described in this subdivision shall continue to be paid while the meeting is held.

Much of the opinion addresses a fairly obvious conclusion, that this is a content-based law that implicates the First Amendment as to the employer’s free speech rights. California argued that this law prohibited conduct, not speech. The panel wasn’t buying. Continue reading →

The New York Times reports that Mary Peltola, the Democratic candidate for Senator from Alaska, pulled a dirty trick. Her campaign sought out a person with the same name as the incumbent Republican Senator, convinced him to run as a Republican, supported his candidacy, and, most importantly, lied about it.

The Peltola campaign has repeatedly denied any involvement in his candidacy. But The Times has found, based on interviews and text messages, along with documents prepared for a potential lawsuit against the campaign, that not only did Ms. Peltola’s team work with people trying to recruit Mr. Sullivan to run for Senate, but the effort was much broader. The group worked to coax other would-be spoilers into the race, to dilute the incumbent’s support and help catapult the Democrat to victory.

Continue reading →

They’re not judges. The judicial branch of government exists under Article III of the Constitution. Its judges are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate, after which they have tenure for life upon good behavior. These judges get to appoint inferior judges, magistrates, to assist them. Mags are judges because they serve under the judicial branch.

But immigration judges are not judges, do not serve under Article III or the judicial branch, and yet are charged with the fair and impartial administration of immigration laws. But despite the name and cool black robes, they are not to be confused with judges.

(4) The term “immigration judge” means an attorney whom the Attorney General appoints as an administrative judge within the Executive Office for Immigration Review, qualified to conduct specified classes of proceedings, including a hearing under section 1229a of this title. An immigration judge shall be subject to such supervision and shall perform such duties as the Attorney General shall prescribe, but shall not be employed by the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Continue reading →

There will almost certainly be accusations, if not legal battles, by Trump against election officials in various states and cities claiming that they violated the law by not denying putative citizens with names ending in vowels or swarthy complexions the right to vote. But there is a much more immediate concern that will arise next Tuesday, November 3rd, when the mass of Americans go to the polls to vote in the midterm elections.

The Trump administration said it would dispatch around 1,000 election monitors to polling places across the country. It’s important to remember that under the law, election monitors are entitled to observe polling places, but they cannot administer elections, determine voter eligibility or direct any election officials.

Continue reading →