The Democrats Took Back the House, So Now Everything's Fine

By Dustin Rowles | Politics | November 9, 2018 |

By Dustin Rowles | Politics | November 9, 2018 |

It looks like the Democrats are going to pick up some 40 seats in the House, close to 4,000 pick-ups in state legislatures, and even in the Senate, it’s possible that the Dems will limit Republican pick-ups to +1 in a year in which Democrats up for re-election far outnumbered Republicans.

So, everything is good now, right? America’s fixed! Trump’s been put in check, and we can all go on with our lives now, right? Right? RIGHT?!

Unfortunately, Donald Trump fired the Keebler Elf and replaced him with an actual kook, Matthew Whitaker, who has repeatedly — and on television — stated that he doesn’t think much of Bob Mueller’s probe, and yet Whitaker has no intention of stepping aside, which, like, is exactly why Trump hired him. He wanted someone to do his bidding for him, and someone who wouldn’t step aside like that limp dick Sessions when it became clear that he had a conflict of interest. The fact that Whitaker won’t step aside is exactly why Trump brought him in.

This is a man who also does not agree with Marbury v. Madison, arguably the most important case in Supreme Court history because it put the Supreme Court on equal footing with the executive branch — Whitaker believes that the President should be above the judiciary (Whitaker also thinks that John Roberts is too activist. JOHN ROBERTS). Whitaker also believes that, in confirming judges, they should have a “biblical view of justice.”

“And what I know is as long as they have that worldview, that they’ll be a good judge. And if they have a secular worldview, then I’m going to be very concerned about how they judge.”

The dude used to heavily promote a scam company that was shut down by the government, and the reason why Trump likes him was because Whitaker specifically endeavored to become a cable-news pundit in order to get Trump’s attention.

Anyway, this guy is running the AG’s department, although several lawyers including George Conway (Kellyanne’s husband) are arguing that his appointment is illegal because he was never Senate confirmed, and if Trump decides to nominate him as permanent AG, it is not known if he would be confirmed. I’m betting it may depend on whether Krysten Sinema picks up that seat in Arizona (she has currently pulled ahead), and whether Bill Nelson can pull ahead of Rick Scott in Florida. Every seat matters.

Nelson has, in fact, pulled to within 15,000 votes, so Rick Scott — who is the current governor — has decided to pull out all the stops and file a lawsuit to stop votes from being counted, alleging without evidence that Broward County and Palm Beach County supervisors of elections were engaging in “rampant fraud.”

Rick Scott's voter suppression record:

Cut early voting, leading to 7 hour lines

Banned groups like League of Women Voters from registering voters

Tried to purge 1000s of eligible voters

Disenfranchised 100,000+ ex-felons

Now trying to stop every ballot from being counted

— Ari Berman (@AriBerman) November 9, 2018

Meanwhile, the President and Senator Rubio are alleging conspiracies and Donald Trump is using the threat of law enforcement.

Law Enforcement is looking into another big corruption scandal having to do with Election Fraud in #Broward and Palm Beach. Florida voted for Rick Scott!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 9, 2018

What? A box with a label on it, that no one even looked in, is now evidence of voter fraud?? I have deep respect for @marcorubio, but trying to invent a conspiracy by scouring the internet and retweeting any bs photos you find is so junior varsity. https://t.co/1mvwKvFFmd

— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) November 9, 2018

From the Miami New Times:

But as it stands, there is zero evidence that the Democratic Party is, in any way, trying to “steal” this election from Republicans. That sort of rhetoric erodes the public’s (admittedly low) trust in the validity of American elections. People could legitimately riot if they believed a candidate “stole” an election — yet Sen. Marco Rubio is having a meltdown right now on Twitter-Dot-Com and claiming that Snipes and Democratic “lawyers” are trying to “steal” the U.S. Senate race from Rick Scott in order to give it to Bill Nelson. Rubio, a guy who spends a ton of time whining that people are not more “civil” toward Republicans like him, is tiptoeing into InfoWars/Trumpian territory.

And I think you all know the real danger both here and in Georgia. If these guys not only get away with rampant voter suppression but also prevent ballots from actually being counted, they essentially set up the template for Trump to do the same in 2020. This is exactly what Trump teased in 2016, claiming in the event that he lost that he would challenge the results, call the election illegitimate, and generally continue to erode America’s faith in the election system. Basically, Trump wants to be Putin, and if we don’t figure out a way to stop this, he may get his way.

Oh, and I haven’t even mentioned that the Press Secretary of the United States is using a doctored video from a conspiracy website as a weapon against a media outlet that Trump hates because it doesn’t report the news to his liking.

So, no. Things are not fine.