blueworld

Indeed, tis a cute jest about Confirmation Bias, which is fair in polling given the challenge it is.

Just a note that Real clear politics, the owner of realclearpolling.com was considered nonpartisan until a few years when more conservative influences have taken root. I point it out in contrast to Nate Silver who tends to lean left a bit.

I agree with the sentiment, but disagree with the polling.

https://www.natesilver.net/p/trump-approval-ratings-nate-silver-bulletin Show’s the Cheeto down

RCP shows him at least level with a few weeks ago, and way down overall.

https://www.realclearpolling.com/polls/approval/donald-trump/approval-rating

There are others as well, but basically, he’s beginning to hurt hard on some of the issues and that’s making midterms looks difficult for the Republican next year. It’s telling to me that he’s stopped his tariff crusade, especially lifting ones on food. Also did the ACA extension, in spite of being so against it that he wanted to remove the filibuster. His staff is desperate for big wins and he’s been stymied in finding them when the courts reject his deployments, curtail or.monitor his ICE raids, and even reject his parties gerrymandering attempts. Many many people are beginning to just ignore his histrionic, such as Ukraine and Europe, as well as China.

In essence, while I am not as optimistic as the article, as I think he’s got lots of damage to be done under the news radar (like gutting the edu dept), I do think the middle ground who voted him in (the middle 20% of voting Americans, not the conservative 40%, or progressive 40%) has come to realize the folly of their choice… Or begun to.

What the fuck is with this article? All over the place. Horrible read. Two relevant paragraphs.

Eight Senate Democrats caved to Donald Trump and voted to approve a budget deal with Republicans to end the government shutdown, angering their colleagues in Congress as well as their own party’s base.

These eight senators, including independent Angus King who caucuses with the party, are all either retiring or up for reelection years from now. They likely feel that they won’t have to pay an electoral cost for failing to stand up for Democrats’ goal of extending health care subsidies, instead settling for a future vote on the matter.

The full list of these Democrats is below:

Senator Richard Durbin (Illinois, retiring) Senator Angus King (Maine, term ends in 2030) Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (Nevada, term ends in 2028) Senator Jacky Rosen (Nevada, term ends in 2030) Senator Maggie Hassan (New Hampshire, term ends in 2028) Senator Jeanne Shaheen (New Hampshire, retiring) Senator John Fetterman (Pennsylvania, 2028) Senator Tim Kaine (Virginia, 2030)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VfsB81RGSK8

Trump Always Chickens Out!

From the NYT article:

…

According to the patrol report, one officer described what sounded like pebbles hitting his motorcycle and the area around him, and two others saw a two-inch piece of shrapnel hit the hood of their patrol vehicle, leaving a small dent. The report says shrapnel was also found on the road near the motorcycle.

Mr. Newsom had warned that the Marine Corps’ plans to fire artillery shells over Interstate 5, the West Coast’s main north-south artery, could pose hazards for motorists on the stretch between Los Angeles and San Diego. The closure he ordered on Saturday caused significant backups on the portion of the interstate, which is used by approximately 80,000 people daily.

“We love our Marines and owe a debt of gratitude to Camp Pendleton, but next time, the vice president and the White House shouldn’t be so reckless with people’s lives for their vanity projects,” Mr. Newsom said in a statement to The New York Times.

…

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/19/us/politics/shell-interstate-5-marines-california.html

(My emphasis added)

Yup (from the same article)

But Johnson made it clear on a conference call with House Republicans on Thursday that he does not plan on passing a standalone bill to pay the troops before Wednesday, when military personnel are set to miss their first paychecks, according to two Republican sources on the call.

During the call, Johnson received some slight pushback from GOP members over his strategy. Two Republicans spoke up to express their concerns over the House’s remaining out of session, the sources on the call said, but several others spoke up in support of the idea.

Like other affected federal workers, controllers are worried about how they will pay their bills during the shutdown when they won’t get paychecks. Duffy and the union’s president have acknowledged the unfairness of their situation, which only adds more stress to their already stressful jobs.

NATCA President Nick Daniels said controllers might have to take time off to work a second job just to make ends meet during the shutdown. But Duffy said that right now, he thinks the controllers who are missing work are “lashing out” in frustration.

“It’s going to eventually be that when people don’t have money, they have time to start making life choices and life decisions. And it shouldn’t be waiting for air traffic controllers to break because of having to take out loans, credit card debt, paying bills, gas, groceries, mortgages. Those things aren’t going to stop,” Daniels said.

So… What if they are actually sick…? I mean not getting paid and still having to show up let alone the stress of being a air traffic controller seems likely to make people prime candidates for low immune systems. Oh, but that’s right sickness doesn’t exist under RFK, right?

While I empathize with the feeling I disagree. The trend is polarization—not a universal rightward shift—and liberal politicians have not systematically adopted more conservative positions. Instead, both parties have moved toward ideological extremes, with Democrats consolidating progressive stances and Republicans embracing stronger conservative positions.

So this is not indicative of a pull to the right, but more that the right is in power.

John Durham, the former special counsel who spent nearly four years examining the origins of the FBI investigation into President Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and its alleged ties to Russia, told federal prosecutors investigating James Comey that he was unable to uncover evidence that would support false statements or obstruction charges against the former FBI director, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.

Federal prosecutors in Virginia met remotely with Durham in August to understand the findings of his investigation, according to sources familiar with the meeting, and his conclusions raise the prospect that Durham – who was once elevated by Trump and other Republicans believing he would prosecute high-level officials involved with the investigation of the president’s 2016 campaign – could now become a key figure aiding Comey’s defense.

The prosecutors also met with a team of lawyers at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C., who had investigated Comey for years – including calling him to testify before a grand jury in 2021 – but were unable to identify any chargeable offenses committed by Comey, sources familiar with the meeting said.

…

Doesn’t she realize how this could backfire on her in the future? If she can do it, then so can others.

Agreed, but let’s not be naïve. Pay them a food wage, give them healthcare, and good incentives to be ethnical government workers. If you don’t, then the corruption gets worse under the table.