Have you ever talked to a six-year-old about life and the way things work? It’s kind of awesome and I highly recommend it. Six-year-olds have a very limited perspective and almost no accurate information from which to draw in arriving at conclusions. That doesn’t stop them, of course. When you talk to them about the way things work, they just tell you how they think things work. Naturally, they’re not right. Ask them specific questions. They may not know the “correct” answer, but that doesn’t matter. They’ll take a shot and some of their stories are massively entertaining and incredibly imaginative. Six-year-old understanding. Occasionally, they even touch on something that’s pretty close to right but the positions of six-year-olds tend to lack…nuance and perspective. That’s fair. They’re six.

I realized the other day, talking to far right conservatives is very much the same experience. Only, they’re not six…

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I’ve become a bit surprised by how openly the GOP is in moving to exclude as many voters as possible. “We’re cheating to stop pretend cheating” is not a very convincing line. It’s one of those “every but only” things I’m often on about. That is, EVERY con knows the left cheated in the last election but ONLY cons know the left cheated in the last election. There’s zero evidence to support their pretended position. In fact, there are 60 court cases saying specifically that, no, there is no evidence of cheating. But lack of evidence never stopped a con from fighting for a position and, for them, the only thing MORE convincing is evidence against their preferred position.

So, they’re cheating – or trying to. GOP legislatures across the country are trying to enact laws that stop people from voting. Worse, these are carefully targeted laws intended to stop the “wrong” people from voting. It will be interesting to see how they play out in the courts. You KNOW the Dems will fight these laws. Each one of them will end up in the Sour Cream Court awaiting the judgement of the court’s cons. This is not the same court that gutted the Voting Rights Act in 2013. Some of the faces have changed but the court remains ideologically aligned with the 2013 court. That makes it difficult to say how they might rule. If you live in one of those red states, it might do to contact your “representative” and let them know how you feel about them trying to take away your vote.

In the meantime, The House has passed HR 1 – “The For The People Act.” (Dems are terrible at coming up with catchy names for their bills but they’re getting better.) HR1 makes it FAR more difficult for the GOP to cheat in elections. So…guess who opposes HR1? Why, that would be the GOP! I’m a bit gobsmacked to hear them state outright that if HR1 passes it will hurt them at the polls. They’re actually saying, out loud, that they know they can’t win a fair election so they can’t allow fair elections. Lindsey Graham (R, of course) says he’ll filibuster HR1 – even if they go back to the talking filibuster and he has to actually talk for hours on end. Old Lindsey says whatever he needs to say in the moment so whether or not he actually would or could remains to be seen.

In the meantime, you could call Congress and let them know how YOU feel about fair voting in this once-great nation. (202) 224-3121 takes you to the Capitol switchboard and they can connect you with your Senator…

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I’ve written before that I’m opposed to the latest form of the filibuster and I support Biden’s position to return to the talking filibuster. The current message from the left is that the filibuster is bad and must be removed. But nobody in Congress is actually using the filibuster, anymore. They get the benefit of a successful filibuster block by simply declaring their intent to filibuster. That’s stupid. But a talking filibuster – the kind where a Congress Critter has to hold the floor in an extended attempt to block progress for some reason – might be a useful tool in a politician’s tool kit and I don’t think it should go altogether.

Another advantage of the talking filibuster is that the politician in question has to do so very publicly. One stands on the floor and talks. Meanwhile, cameras run and reporters record and everyone in the world can see who’s doing the interfering as opposed to this current secretive system in which some unknown pol declares opposition in the back rooms and whichever bill just…dies…

What might be called the ‘Declared Intent Filibuster’ has been an incredibly effective tool in helping the GOP attack and dismantle the United States of America and I think it’s always a good idea to remove weapons from the hands of your opposition. It’s clear they want to destroy this once-great nation. I think we ought to make them at least work for it…

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The other day, Joe Biden tripped while climbing the steps to Air Force One. Three times. The White House has assured everyone Joe is okay and blamed the wind – which I thought was a stupid defense. I don’t know what’s wrong with the guy but claiming he can be pushed over by the wind isn’t the way to project strength, you know? (I think I might have gone with wet steps from a leaky water bottle carried by someone who had already gone up.) Okay, so…here’s the thing. To nobody’s surprise, the right pounced on the trips. Some clever sod created a video of Donnie the Dumbass teeing off and then showed the ball hitting Biden just as he trips – as though the drive knocked Biden over. Then it cut back to the Dumbass teeing off again and a second ball hitting Biden and down goes Biden.

The left lost their collective mind over the video or, at least, pretended to. I doubt anyone was surprised the political opposition took advantage of an opportunity to make fun of Biden’s missteps. Does anybody remember the left’s response when the Dumbass couldn’t even walk down a ramp? Stepping into the Wayback Machine, Gerald Ford once slipped on AF One’s steps and Chevy Chase built an entire career on overplaying the fall. Biden knew his step struggle was going to be used against him. Here’s the thing: the video is actually funny.

I think the left should just laugh it off and keep on going…