Yesterday, some elections took place. And they have some details that do not look good for the GOP. Not with mid terms less than seven months away. Ben Kamisar (NBC News) reports:
Republicans
padded their slim House majority with a special election win in Georgia
Tuesday night. But the race also marked the biggest swing against the
GOP compared to the 2024 presidential results out of seven House special
elections in President Donald Trump's second term.
It’s
the latest sign of an encouraging political environment for Democrats,
though the results in lower-turnout special elections never translate
exactly to November. Democrats are hoping to mobilize voter frustration
with the president and his party to break the Republicans’ unified
control of Washington later this year.
Republican
attorney Clay Fuller, Trump’s pick to fill the seat vacated by former
GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s resignation earlier this year, is
projected to defeat Democrat Shawn Harris and hold Georgia's 14th
Congressional District for Republicans. But the results Tuesday look
nothing like in 2024, when Trump won the seat by almost 37 points and
Greene won by about 29 points.
Fuller led
Harris by a margin of 55.9% to 44.1% with 99% of the expected vote in,
according to NBC News’ Decision Desk. That's a 12-point margin — and a
25-point swing from Trump's margin.
In
Wisconsin’s state Supreme Court race, the contest was technically
nonpartisan, but Democrats backed Judge Chris Taylor, while Republicans
supported Judge Maria Lazar. Taylor didn’t just prevail, she cruised to a
20-point victory in what is generally seen as one of the nation’s most
evenly divided battleground states. Taylor even racked up victories in
counties that Trump won easily as recently as 2024.
Progressive
justices on the state high court already enjoyed a majority. Now,
thanks to voters, there are five liberals on the seven-member court.
[. . .]
In
the mayoral race in Waukesha, Wis., Alicia Halvensleben, the Democratic
president of the city’s Common Council, defeated Republican state Rep.
Scott Allen. This was notable in large part because of Waukesha’s role
as a bellwether. Waukesha is a suburb, just west of Milwaukee, that’s
traditionally been a GOP stronghold. The New York Times noted, “The city
… has long been a center of conservative activism and has helped fuel
statewide wins for Republicans in closely divided Wisconsin.” And local
voters just elected a Democratic mayor.
Democrats
had another strong electoral showing Tuesday night in the battleground
states of Wisconsin and Georgia in what Politico described as “one of
their best election nights since President Donald Trump returned to the
White House” – a showing that sparked panic among some GOP-aligned
operatives as the midterm elections fast approach.
[. . .]
Brandon
Scholz, formerly a GOP strategist before leaving the party in 2021,
described Democrats’ latest electoral victory in Wisconsin as “a wow
moment,” and told Politico that the election results did, in fact,
signal trouble for Republicans going forward.
Chump has destroyed the Republican Party. Possibly, he's destroyed it for a lifetime.
Wednesday, March 8, 2026. Chump chickens out, people worry about what
Pete Hegseth is whispering to Chump, ICE shoots a man in California,
Bill Gates set to be deposed by Congress in the ongoing Epstein
investigation, and much more.
Archbishop
Paul S. Coakley, leader of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops,
called on President Donald Trump to back off his threats to kill “a
whole civilization,” issuing a rare direct rebuke of Trump as he faces
growing criticism from Catholic leaders over his war against Iran.
Coakley
said Tuesday, “the threat of destroying a whole civilization and the
intentional targeting of civilian infrastructure cannot be morally
justified,” calling on Trump “to step back from the precipice of war.”
If you missed it, last night was supposed to be Convicted Felon Donald Chump bombing Iran into "the stone age."
What happened?
Chump caved.
As Ben notes this morning on MEIDASTOUCH NEWS, Chump decided to go along with Iran's previous ten-point proposal.
President Trump said on Monday that a
cease-fire proposal put forth by mediators between the United States and
Iran was a “significant step,” but he warned that it was “not good
enough” as his deadline of Tuesday evening for a deal approached.
Iran,
for its part, rejected any proposal for a cease-fire, mandating that
any peace plan include a complete end of hostilities. Diplomatic talks
coordinated by Pakistan and other regional countries were continuing,
officials said, even as there appeared to be little agreement on what
any cessation of hostilities would look like.
If
Iran does not agree to reopen the Strait of Hormuz by Tuesday at 8 p.m.
Eastern time, Mr. Trump has threatened to launch a massive attack
targeting bridges, power plants and other civilian facilities that
would, in his words, send Iran “back to the Stone Ages.” But the
president has also extended self-imposed deadlines in recent weeks, and
diplomats around the world were asking whether Mr. Trump would find an
off-ramp again or if he would follow through this time with what could
be a gigantic conflagration.
Today, MORNING JOE talked about Chump's cave.
As the war continues to drag on and as things continue to
get uglier, there's a need on the part of some to rush to Chump's
defense and find an Iago bringing about the downfall of the hero. For
some, the Iago whispering falsehoods to Chump is Pete Hegseth. Zoe Engels (MEDIAITE) reports:
Officials
have accused Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth of misleading President
Donald Trump about the Iran War, declaring that “Pete is not speaking
the truth.”
Hegseth has been feverishly
blasting the media’s coverage of the Iran War, saying Americans would
not believe U.S. “success” in the war if they “listened” to the
mainstream media.
On March 6, he told CBS’s 60 Minutes that Iranians are the only people who should be concerned about the war.
“No
one’s putting us in danger,” Hegseth said of the U.S. “We’re putting
the other guys in danger. That’s our job. So, we’re not concerned about
that. We mitigate it as we need to. Our commanders factor all of this,
but the only ones that need to be worried right now are Iranians that
think they’re gonna live.”
In a new report
by The Washington Post, anonymous officials and analysts are quoted as
showing concern about the negative influence that Hegseth’s overzealous,
false optimism is having on Trump.
Hegseth’s
triumphant rhetoric has stood in contrast to that of Gen. Dan Caine,
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who has not suggested U.S. pilots
can use Iranian airspace without concern of enemy threats.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell called scrutiny of Hegseth’s public messaging “lies and propaganda.”
“Secretary
Hegseth has provided the Commander-in-Chief with decisive military
options to achieve our clear, scoped objectives: destroy Iran’s missile
arsenal, annihilate their Navy, destroy their terrorist proxies, and
ensure Iran can never obtain a nuclear weapon,” he said in a statement.
“The Washington Post is pushing a fake story of failure.”
White
House spokeswoman Anna Kelly rejected any assertion that Hegseth has
misinformed the president and said Trump always knew the Iranians would
shoot back. “He has always had the full picture of the conflict. Nothing
has surprised him or our military planners, who were prepared for any
possible contingency,” she said.
[. . .]
Another
source of scrutiny emerged March 31, when Hegseth told reporters the
number of Iranian missile and drone launches had fallen to a lower level
than any other 24-hour period since the war began. The figure was
presented as evidence that “relentless” U.S. and Israeli strikes were
degrading Iran’s ability to sustain attacks.
But
administration officials said Hegseth’s claim was incorrect and that
lower 24-hour periods occurred March 14, 15 and 22. “Documents sent
around internally contradict Hegseth’s claims,” one official said.
I
don't doubt that Hegseth is whispering errors and outright lies into
Chump's ear. But that's why Chump chose him. Hegseth wasn't forced off
on Chump -- no, Chump chose him. So he's only whispering to Chump what
Chump wants to hear. Hegseth was a known liar before his confirmation
hearing. Chump knew what he was getting.
Now
he knew JD Vance was a liar as well and he thought he could count on
him. But Chump decided he was wrong there so he has now distanced
himself from Miss Sassy. Matthew Rozsa notes:
President
Donald Trump is degrading his own vice president, JD Vance, over the
latter’s opposition to the former’s Iran war — and it is painfully
obvious to White House observers.
“Nobody in
Mr. Trump’s inner circle was more worried about the prospect of war with
Iran, or did more to try to stop it, than the vice president,” reported The New York Times’ Jonathan Swan and Maggie Haberman on Tuesday.
“Mr. Vance had built his political career opposing precisely the kind
of military adventurism that was now under serious consideration. He had
described a war with Iran as ‘a huge distraction of resources’ and
massively expensive.’”
The Times elaborated that,
although Vance is not a dove, he privately expressed the belief that a
regime-change war in Iran would end badly for the United States. Because
Trump wished to engage in some military action against Iran, Vance
urged limited action rather than a large-scale campaign, even advocating
for Trump to use “overwhelming force, in the hope of achieving his
objectives quickly.”
Yet the president has
reportedly noticed Vance’s reticence to declare war against Iran and is
politically penalizing his own vice president accordingly, including
through public displays of how he is out of the loop.
So
despite Chump's talking up War Crimes and making outrageous threats, he
didn't go through with it. This time. And this doesn't need to happen
again.
Senator Elizabeth Warren's office issued the following ahead of the deadline Chump had imposed for last night:
Warren: “This is Deranged…Congress Must Pull the Emergency Brake Now”
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) released a new video condemning President Trump’s threat to
wipe out the “whole civilization” of Iran“ and called for Majority
Leader Thune to bring the Senate back into session immediately to vote
to stop Trump’s war.
“Congress needs to pull the emergency brake now. We should be voting
to stop Trump’s war today…Every Republican who refuses to speak out,
every Republican who ducks a question, every Republican who votes to let
this war continue bears a portion of the responsibility for what is
happening in Trump’s war,” said Senator Warren.
Senator Warren highlighted that American families are paying the price for Trump and Hegseth’s war in Iran.
“Gas prices are more than $4 dollars a gallon. Groceries are up. Life
was already unaffordable and now you’re paying for Trump’s war while
our service members fight and die in another forever war halfway around
the world,” she said.
“We don’t know what will happen tonight…But I do know that Congress
has the power and the responsibility to end Trump's war. Enough. Call
your representatives. And tell these Republicans to grow a backbone and
do their damn jobs,” she concluded.
Transcript: Senator Warren on Trump Threatening to Wipe Out the “Whole Civilization” of Iran
Senator Elizabeth Warren: I want to talk directly to
people who are sick with worry that Donald Trump is threatening war
crimes in Iran. In his words, if Iran doesn’t do what he says, their
“whole civilization will die tonight.”
The President of the United States is threatening to bomb innocent
people and civilian infrastructure in Iran. He’s threatening to commit
war crimes. And he is threatening to do it in our names.
This is deranged. And it must stop.
Some say that this is just Trump negotiating.
No. Trump is threatening mass death if he doesn’t get his way. And
it’s further evidence that Trump’s war and Trump himself have spiralled
out of control.
Trump’s guy in charge of the war, Pete Hegseth, is thumping his chest
that the United States has “complete control of Iranian skies” while
our brave pilots get shot down.
And you are paying the price.
Gas prices are more than $4 dollars a gallon. Groceries are up. Life
was already unaffordable and now you’re paying for Trump’s war while our
service members fight and die in another forever war halfway around the
world.
And for what? How is your life better because of Trump’s war?
It is the constitutional responsibility of Congress to not only declare war, but to end war.
Instead, when Republicans have been forced to vote, they have voted repeatedly to continue Trump’s war.
Republican Leader John Thunehune must call the Senate back into
session immediately. And Congress needs to pull the emergency brake NOW.
We should be voting to stop Trump’s war TODAY.
Make no mistake: Every Republican who refuses to speak out, every
Republican who ducks a question, every Republican who votes to let this
war continue bears a portion of the responsibility for what is happening
in Trump’s war.
We don’t know what will happen tonight. Will Trump back down or will he commit war crimes?
But I do know that Congress has the power and the responsibility to
end Trump's war. Enough. Call your representatives. And tell these
Republicans to grow a backbone and do their damn jobs.
"I
believe sanctuary cities is (sic) not lawful," Mullin told Fox News'
Bret Baier. "Some of these cities have international airports. If they
are a sanctuary city, should they really be processing customs into
their city? We need to have a really hard look at that."
"So
you are saying that big cities that are sanctuary cities that have a
big airport, they might lose their customs?" said Baier.
"I'm
going to be forced to make tough decisions," said Mullin, also noting
that this could serve as retaliation for cities whose lawmakers have
obstructed funding for DHS in the standoff over ICE reforms.
Mullin's
threat here was met with instant outrage on social media, with experts
pointing out he doesn't actually have the authority to do this.
The
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in Sacramento was launching a
probe Tuesday after a shooting involving U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement agents and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officers near San
Jose, California.
KNTV reported that the Tuesday morning shooting shut down on- and off-ramps on Interstate 5 and Sperry Avenue in Patterson, California. Lauren Mascarenhas (CNN) adds, "Immigration
and Customs Enforcement agents were involved in a shooting that sent
one person to the hospital while they were conducting a targeted traffic
stop in California’s Central Valley, the agency said Tuesday." Uwa Ede-Osifo (GUARDIAN) reports that the man shot was Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez:
Hernandez was hospitalized after the shooting. A spokesperson for the
Stanislaus county sheriff’s office, which has jurisdiction over
Patterson, declined to comment on Hernandez’s condition.
A
Jamaican national arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
after overstaying a tourist visa is disputing the agency’s account of
his case, alleging that his identification documents were taken during
detention and not returned.
Carlton Junior
Burke, 25, said he was taken into custody on October 1, 2025, by federal
agents at his home in Madison, Wisconsin, and transported to a
detention facility, where he claims his passport and driver’s licenses
were collected and not given back.
ICE
has earned a reputation for lying about their actions -- to the public,
to the courts. So I'll give Burke the benefit of the doubt.
After
serving fewer than four months in jail, Epstein was granted a special
arrangement that allowed him to leave custody for up to 16 hours a day,
six days a week, as part of a work release program, allegedly to perform
work at a charitable organization he had just established called the
Florida Science Foundation.
This continued for the next nine months until his release to a year of supervised house arrest in July 2009.
Each
day during his work release, Epstein was transported between the jail
and an office in downtown West Palm Beach by his bodyguard and driver,
Igor Zinoviev. His personal attorney, Darren Indyke, was listed as his
official supervisor at the job. Epstein agreed to hire off-duty
sheriff's deputies to monitor his movements, log visitors and provide
security at his office and home.
According to
documents released under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, his SUV
used for these trips was outfitted with a bed. An account given to the
FBI by one woman included the claim that Epstein engaged in sexual
activity with her in the vehicle — while it was parked in the jail lot.
The
woman told the FBI she was a former model from Slovakia who Epstein had
first met when she was a teenager and still in high school. She told
agents she was recruited from Slovakia by Epstein's friend and business
associate Jean-Luc Brunel during her senior year to move to New York
City and pursue a career in modeling. She met Epstein at Brunel's
birthday party at the New York City restaurant Cipriani in 2003.
By
the time of Epstein's incarceration, she had been involved sexually
with him for several years. She was one of four "assistants" granted
immunity in a federal non-prosecution agreement that Epstein received in
exchange for his plea.
King Charles
will be visiting Donald Chump in the US later this month. Survivors of
Jeffrey Epstein have already requested that Charles meet with them. Luke Alsford (METRO) notes:
An
Epstein survivor has said she is prepared to wait outside the White
House to meet with King Charles during his state visit. Rina Oh is
willing to hold a mock tea party with other Epstein victims at the White
House gates, with an empty chair reserved for the Monarch to sit down
and talk with them. The campaigner, who was groomed and sexually
assaulted by Epstein from the age of 21, wants the Royals to prove they
care about survivors by funding their therapy costs. Her calls for the
King to donate to mental health care for Epstein's victims have been
supported by the US's leading anti-trafficking organisation, World
Without Exploitation. Charles will visit the US with Queen Camilla at
the end of April to mark the 250th anniversary of American Independence,
where he will meet President Trump and address Congress.
Democratic
Congressman Ro Khanna, who spearheaded the release of the Epstein
Files, wrote to the King last week asking him to meet the sex offender’s
victims. However, it is understood that Charles will not be able to
meet survivors during the trip. Oh, who lives in New Jersey, said that
would not stop her from visiting Washington DC to see the Monarch. She
told Metro: 'If the King and Queen really do support the victims, then
it would be a nice gesture to meet with some of them. It would show that
he cared. I don't mind gathering a group and going to Washington. We'll
just sit in and have afternoon tea in front of the White House gates.'
Pam Bondi, the former Attorney General, is expected to be deposed by the House Oversight Committee on April 14th. Joe Sommerlad (INDEPENDENT) reports another
Commerce
Secretary Howard Lutnick will testify before the House Oversight
Committee on May 6 regarding his past association with the late
pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, according to reports.
Kentucky
Republican Rep. James Comer, the panel’s chairman, announced on March 3
that Lutnick had “proactively agreed to appear voluntarily” and
applauded his “demonstrated commitment to transparency” but did not at
that stage offer a schedule.
“In
the six to eight steps it takes to get from his house to my house, my
wife and I decided that I will never be in the room with that disgusting
person ever again,” Lutnick told Devine.
However,
the release of the Epstein files by the Department of Justice in late
December and January revealed that the men had remained in contact after
all.
And there's another person who will be deposed by the committee: Bill Gates. Dan Mangan (CNBC) reports:
Microsoft
co-founder Bill Gates will sit for an interview about Jeffrey Epstein
by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on June 10,
according to a person familiar with the situation, who spoke anonymously
because the appearance has not been announced.
Gates
is one of several people who have agreed to be interviewed by the
oversight panel about their dealings with Epstein, the notorious sex
offender who killed himself in a New York jail in August 2019.
Let's wind down with this from Senator Tammy Baldwin's office:
Demand comes after Wisconsinites faced weeks long delays getting mail
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin
(D-WI) demanded answers from Postmaster General David Steiner regarding
long-term mail delays and staffing shortages at post offices across
Wisconsin that are impacting local businesses, newspapers, and Wisconsin
families who rely on USPS for prescriptions, bills, voting, and more.
“I write you today to express my frustrations with ongoing mail
delays and staffing shortages throughout Wisconsin,” wrote Senator
Baldwin.
“This is not the first time I have reached out to the United States
Postal Service (USPS) about mail delivery issues on behalf of my
constituents.”
“Millions of Wisconsinites rely on the Postal Service to stay in
touch with loved ones, pay bills, receive much-needed medications and
cast their vote. We have a duty to find solutions to these difficulties
for the people we serve,” Baldwin concluded.
In the letter, Senator Baldwin raised that Wisconsinites across the
state have faced significant delays in receiving their mail from USPS.
Service delays have been especially pronounced in Brown Deer and
Madison, where residents reported weeks-long delays in mail delivery.
These delays follow USPS’ implementation of the Local Transportation
Optimization (LTO) policy, an overhaul spearheaded by former Postmaster
General Louis DeJoy that has caused widespread service issues in the
years since it was first introduced. A March 2025 report by the USPS
Office of Inspector General found a general decrease in service in
Wisconsin after LTO was implemented.
Senator Baldwin has repeatedly called on the USPS to address rate
hikes and delays Wisconsinites are experiencing. In 2024, Senator
Baldwin led a group of her colleagues in calling out USPS leadership for unsustainable price hikes and poor service. Baldwin also called on
former Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to immediately address costly
mail delays suffered by Wisconsin newspapers that rely on the USPS.
In her letter, Senator Baldwin requests written answers to the following questions:
What was the retention rate among pre-career and career USPS
employees from Fiscal Year 2024 to Fiscal Year 2025 in Wisconsin? What
are the nationwide retention rates among pre-career and career USPS
employees from Fiscal Year 2024 to Fiscal Year 2025?
How many USPS employees currently work in Wisconsin? How many open positions does USPS currently have?
Is USPS concerned with staffing shortages and retention rates in
Wisconsin? If so, besides job fairs, what solutions have been
implemented to address staffing challenges in Wisconsin, specifically?
How successful have the USPS-sponsored job fairs been at hiring new
employees in Wisconsin and nationwide? Thus far, have job fairs resulted
in long-term employment for Wisconsinites?
How has the USPS responded to the issues raised in the March 2025 OIG report regarding LTO implementation?
Has the USPS implemented the process to track Local Transportation
Optimization savings as agreed to in the March 2025 USPS OIG Report? If
so, can you provide an explanation of the process and any current
findings?
How will USPS ensure customers are immediately notified of any impacts to service in their area moving forward?
A full version of this letter is available here and below.
Dear Postmaster General Steiner,
I write you today to express my frustrations with ongoing mail delays and staffing shortages throughout Wisconsin.
This is not the first time I have reached out to the United States
Postal Service (USPS) about mail delivery issues on behalf of my
constituents. I frequently urged your predecessor to improve service,
emphasizing that USPS’s transition to the Local Transportation
Optimization policy (LTO) led to a decline in mail delivery reliability
across Wisconsin. This was confirmed by the USPS Office of Inspector
General’s March 2025 Report for the Wisconsin region, which found a
general decrease in service in the state after this disastrous policy
was implemented. The report also found that customers were not notified
of the impacts to service in their areas until after an issue arose or
they directly asked questions. To make matters worse, the supposed cost
savings attributed to the LTO were not even effectively tracked by USPS,
making it difficult to verify whether the policy delivered any
meaningful financial benefit.
Most recently, I have heard from constituents who have endured long
stretches without any mail delivery. In Brown Deer, residents
experienced significant delays and inconsistent service from the Post
Office on Bradley Road. Some reported going weeks at a time without
receiving any mail. I have heard similar stories from my constituents in
Madison, who have seen lengthy mail service delays across the entire
city.
I appreciate that USPS has addressed staffing shortages in these
areas, but the agency must continue to prioritize the hiring and
retention of workers across the state in order to prevent future
staffing issues that contribute to mail delays. Despite my repeated
warnings, it is clear that service issues have not been substantially
addressed.
I request that you provide written answers to the following questions by April 30, 2026:
What was the retention rate among pre-career and career USPS
employees from Fiscal Year 2024 to Fiscal Year 2025 in Wisconsin? What
are the nationwide retention rates among pre-career and career USPS
employees from Fiscal Year 2024 to Fiscal Year 2025?
How many USPS employees currently work in Wisconsin? How many open positions does USPS currently have?
Is USPS concerned with staffing shortages and retention rates in
Wisconsin? If so, besides job fairs, what solutions have been
implemented to address staffing challenges in Wisconsin, specifically?
How successful have the USPS-sponsored job fairs been at hiring new
employees in Wisconsin and nationwide? Thus far, have job fairs resulted
in long-term employment for Wisconsinites?
How has the USPS responded to the issues raised in the March 2025 OIG report regarding LTO implementation?
Has the USPS implemented the process to track Local Transportation
Optimization savings as agreed to in the March 2025 USPS OIG Report? If
so, can you provide an explanation of the process and any current
findings?
How will USPS ensure customers are immediately notified of any impacts to service in their area moving forward?
Millions of Wisconsinites rely on the Postal Service to stay in touch
with loved ones, pay bills, receive much-needed medications and cast
their vote. We have a duty to find solutions to these difficulties for
the people we serve. Thank you for your attention to this matter, and I
look forward to your prompt response.
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