So the story gets a happy ending… and I’m guessing so will his cellmate.

I wouldn’t say Trump stayed on message, but he included it enough in the insane rambling.

The problem is that Harris was from the incumbent party and administration at a time of deep dissatisfaction with the economy. That’s an extremely difficult position to be in, and it’s made all the worse for her because as VP she gets all the blame by association but can’t really do much personally to adjust policy. She’s handcuffed to the status quo at a time when the vast majority want change.

Biden and Harris both chose to try to defend the status quo and spin things as more positive. This waa a mistake. I don’t know if they would have won by acknowledging the problems and portraying this as them leading through a time of crisis, and how they have plans to get us through, but it probably would have had a much better chance.

It also didn’t help that most of the things they did to address the economic woes were either indirect or only narrowly targeted (or canceled out by courts). News that a factory will eventually open and add jobs in one area doesn’t alleviate the concerns of the vast majority of voters, nor does processing student loan forgiveness for a few thousand people at a time under very specific programs. These things are good, but they don’t make most people feel better the way a more broadly applicable benefit would.

Just speculating here, but if a few additional counts aren’t likely to add significant time to his sentence, they might also be saving some for later in case they lose or the case gets thrown out for some reason.

Tesla could have pursued an affordable model, but instead Elon pushed the robotaxi, and Elon said there was no need for an affordable Tesla model. If we assume that he actually expects to release the robotaxi at some point, and that he actually thinks it’s important for anything other than trying to pump up stock, then it certainly looks like his plans are more focused on fleet sales than trying to sell to consumers. Making cars less affordable across the board (and slashing any funding for public transportation) only helps that business model.

If Trump wants loyalty he should get a fucking dog. Just maybe not while Kristi Noem is around.

Honestly, this is the smart move no matter what his plans are. If he took a position either way he’d just be provoking a backlash for no reason, and at the time when his position is most vulnerable.

Tariffs alone will probably lead to a very bleak outlook for Republicans in the midterm elections.

Oil and gas which need to be extracted from deep underground so we can burn them: a gift from God.

Wind and sunlight which come to us for free and never run out: somehow not a gift from God.

Back when I worked in an office I would put up badass president pics Fourth of July. Too lazy to find them, but stuff like Kennedy riding a robot unicorn on the moon, FDR in wheelchair themed power armor, Roosevelt gunning down big foot in a forest fire, etc.

At home, the only significant decorating I do is for Christmas. There’s enough misery out there, and I choose to embrace the joy and the appeal to the better side of our nature. So we have lights, fake candles, and so on, and we put up a tree that gets a new ornament or two every year which fills it with memories. And as a finishing touch we hang a banner declaring “All creatures will make merry under pain of death”

Let’s see how hungry those leopards are.

That’s not true. He also wants them to shoot protestors.

Trump was already a paranoid nutcase who fostered an atmosphere of chaos and betrayal the last time he was in office. Given the way his declining mental state has been making him even more hostile and unstable, I can’t imagine how bad it’s going to get this time around.

The moment Trump sets foot in the white house again, the economy becomes his problem. If he actually puts those tariffs in place, he will be causing immediate price hikes that will be felt by everyone. That alone would likely cause a massive backlash in the midterm elections.

Harris tried to run on protecting abortion rights, and saving democracy from Trump and Project 2025. Under other circumstances, that probably would have worked.

Unfortunately, she was the nominee for the incumbent party at a time when the vast majority of voters were unhappy with the economy. That’s a hard position to be in, and requires a compelling answer. She had a few token items for the agenda, but nothing that would address the larger issue of people feeling squeezed by inflation. Saying things are better now or going to be better soon doesn’t appease the voters who don’t feel better.

The horrible truth is, a large portion of the electorate would vote for the literal devil if he was running against an incumbent during a bad economy.

Elon’s going to get a shot at balancing the government’s budget. And I’m sure his approach will be similar to the way he handled Tesla’s budget. You know, gotta make deep cuts and lay off as many people as possible, while granting himself a bonus large enough to cover those jobs for decades.

Trump and the Republicans are about to make things worse for the vast majority of Americans. How much they actually accomplish will probably be at least somewhat limited by infighting and incompetence, But if they fulfill even a fraction of what the campaign promised (to say nothing of the project 2025 roadmap) there will be a lot more things for the people to be upset about.

For some, it’s just not paying attention and not being happy with the way things are going.

The judge’s ruling was on Krasner’s emergency motion to shut down the sweepstakes right away. There is still an underlying case on the merits of whether Musk’s giveaway is illegal under state gaming law.

Just to be clear, this wasn’t the judge ruling that it was legal, it was the judge deciding not to issue an emergency order immediately halting the lottery. I’m honestly not surprised given the fact that there is only a day left and the damage is already done.

“Our intent all along is to only provide compensation to registered voters and US citizens, and avoid any chance that we are somehow providing funds to foreign nationals or someone with ill-intent,” Young said.

Young, the super PAC’s treasurer, said the group received plenty of sign-ups from people who weren’t registered to vote – and those people “received a follow-up opportunity and were encouraged to check their registration status,” Young testified.

If there was any doubt that they were using this to get people to register to vote, this added detail should make it pretty clear. They were telling people who weren’t registered to register in order to get paid / enter a lottery.

Lotteries are specifically called out as illegal when used to incentivize voting or voter registration. By making a lottery only for registered voters, he is violating that law. The petition is a smoke screen, but it doesn’t actually negate the fact that this is a lottery for registered voters.

That’s why they switched to saying they were sponsors, they were trying to avoid lottery regulations. Unfortunately for them, you can’t make it legal retroactively by changing your story.

Just trying to hedge her bets. Doesn’t want to be fully against Trump if he wins, but wants to be able to say she warned about this if he loses and the party collapses into infighting. Just a rat getting in position to flee a sinking ship.