I’m VERY distressed about the upcoming mid-terms. I presume I’m not alone. While most elections are presented as the most important ever, this one actually is. We’re about to determine if the country continues it’s horrific slide into tyranny, war, poverty, and deeply held stupidity, or if we can start to fix some of the many, many problems Republicans and rich people inflict on the country whenever they get the chance.

My concern is largely due to my belief that Presidential elections in this country are not fair or honest. I believe one side (the Republican side) cheats – and they do it by corrupting the voting machines. That causes me great distress as to the likelihood they’re going to try it again. But there’s a possible saving grace that may swoop in, last minute, to save the day.

Presidential elections come down to two people: the Democrat, who most Americans want to see in office, and the Republican, who has to steal the office to get in. Over the last three elections, the Democrat has been a different person each time: Clinton, Biden, and Harris. Over the same three elections, the Republican has been the same cheating, dirtbag, waste of human flesh: Donny “the Dumbass” trump.

In each of those elections, the outcome seems to have been rigged ONLY for the Presidential race. Down ballot candidates had to “win” with gerrymandering and slimy campaign tactics. It makes sense. From sea to shining sea, the Presidential race comes down to two people and only two people. It’s always first on the ballot. So everyone knows the position of the race on the ballot and the two people running. It would be a fairly straight-forward thing to rig dongles to flip a few of those votes – D to R – as they’re tallied.

I honestly believe that the Dumbass believes he won the 2020 election – because he paid the money. The fix was in on the machines. But because he’s so staggeringly incompetent at his job, Covid-19 forced people to vote on paper. In 2020, there was no “fix” for the paper ballots. The plan was to let corrupted machines do the dirty work. Really, the 2020 outcome is the best evidence that voting on a voting machine is a de facto vote for the Republican, though there are plenty of other tells.

According to the Dumbass himself, the GOP got better at cheating when Evil Elon figured a way to rig the mail-in ballot tallying machines in the swing states for 2024. Suddenly, the Dumbass “won” states in which he was projected to lose. And he “won” by just enough to prevent triggering an automatic recount, but no more. So now the GOP can corrupt voting machines AND the paper ballot tallying machines – but it’s still only for one race with only two candidates. All of this information causes me suspicion regarding the outcome of this mid-term, but also, in one sense, offers some possible comfort.

I see the ability to rig machines as a different issue entirely on down-ballot candidates. For one thing, there are SO MANY of them. For another, each district would have to have a different set of instructions. I’m not saying it’s not possible. These are evil people and where evil is involved, determination is a benefit. AI probably isn’t going to hurt their chances any, either. Think of people who hack others for money. No matter what protection people come up with to protect themselves or others, the bad guys will always seek an end run. They don’t just give up, and neither will Team Evil.

The comforting thought? I don’t think they can yet corrupt elections for many people in many places the way they can corrupt a Presidential election. Still, I can not just assume they’re not even trying and we, the people, won’t find out until those down-ballot elections start defying exit polls as well. It turns out, defeating Team Evil’s agenda in this mid-term will only be the first step. If we’re going to save our Republic, we have a LOT of work to do…

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I’m saying, if you want to be able to go to a doctor when you need to, you’d better support Democrats in the mid-term. The effects of the GOP’s Big Beautiful Bill are kicking in with a vengeance. Oh, sure, you might still have your health insurance. But the cuts are causing facilities to close, too. Once closed, they’ll be very difficult to re-open. It might be impossible. How much good is your insurance if the nearest doctor is 200 miles away? We’d better get some grown-ups into Congress who can restore the funding the GOP gutted based on GOP lies.

Right now? It’s affecting maternity wards. 52 have closed since the Butt-ugly Bill was announced last year. 8 more are on the chopping block. Obviously, the closures will hit rural areas the hardest. Current trends indicate that in very short order, 96 counties are or will be without a labor and delivery unit. Because of so-called Free Market Capitalism, the United States already suffers one of the highest maternal mortality rates among high-income nations.

I guess it’s a good thing birth rates are down. There’s no place to have your baby anyway. Meanwhile, MAGA is out there parroting the question: why aren’t people having more (white) babies? Raising kids is hard enough without the government standing on your effing neck. I suspect MAGA is about to learn some VERY hard lessons about reality. It’s just a bummer the rest of us are trapped in their voyage of discovery with them…

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It’s fairly straight-forward: RFJ, Jr and anit-vaxxers go on a campaign to discredit vaccines. People start getting the illnesses the vaccines prevented. People start dying of the illnesses the vaccine prevented. It’s all a direct line and was easily predictable – and predicted. SO, RFJ, Jr and anit-vaxxers start simply denying the people who died from those preventable illnesses didn’t die from those preventable illnesses.

These idiots seem to think they can just talk their way out of being so egregiously wrong. But they ARE wrong. They’re embarrassing themselves and humiliating their family name. They look like idiots and they’re putting people’s lives at risk – all to support some moronic political position. It’s a “culture war” thing. Whatever. You can’t talk your way out of facts. You can ignore them, but they remain facts. Turn your back on science, science keeps going anyway.

Vaccines protect people from some pretty horrible things and there is absolutely no valid evidence that vaccines cause autism. You can accept the benefits of vaccines or be an idiot. There is no third choice. But you absolutely, positively can NOT shout your way to health on the topic…

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I saw a headline in the Guardian: ‘Trump urges John Fetterman to switch parties: ‘I’d love to see him as a Republican.’ That’s funny. Most of us already do…