2018 Presidential Election

[Marky Bunny]

So Hunter is lapping the field on the Republican side but if I'm not mistaken, he's never specifically said he was running.

No one has announced yet.

 

[lord caedus]

New page, new collection of gubernatorial maps. This time: the Santos era of state chief executive elections.

--------------------------------------------------------------
Gubernatorial Election Maps (1985-2023)
Reagan/Bush (1985-1986) • Newman (1987-1990) • Lassiter (1991-1998) • Bartlet (1999-2006) • Santos (2007-2010) • Walken (2011-2018) • Seaborn (2019-2023)
--------------------------------------------------------------

Santos (2007-2010)
2007

Spoiler: 2007 elections

Kentucky: Allison Marshall (R) defeated Sam Dunlap (D) – R GAIN
Mississippi: Bill Williams (R) re-elected
Oregon: Harris Ryan (D) re-elected
South Carolina: Christine Taylor (D) defeated Tony Hammonds (R) – D GAIN
Vermont: Jim Donnet (R) retired; Janet Lorton (D) elected – D GAIN

2008

​

Spoiler: 2008 elections

Alaska: Ted Bickford (R) lost re-nomination; Joe Wheeler (R) elected – R HOLD
Arkansas: Bobby Rimmer (D) re-elected
Delaware: Joe Byers (D) term-limited; Rachel DeBoer (D) elected – D HOLD
Florida: Eric Swenson (R) re-elected
Idaho: David Arkin (R) re-elected
Illinois: Andrew Cordy (D) re-elected
Kansas: Mitch McCall (R) re-elected
Maine: Lionel Thompson (D) re-elected
Maryland: Joe Derrick (D) re-elected
Minnesota: Michael Jack (R) re-elected
Missouri: Henry Shallick (R) re-elected
Nebraska: John Moore (R) defeated Roger Tribbey (D) – R GAIN
North Dakota: George Simms (R) re-elected
Oklahoma: Peggy Wade (R) re-elected
Pennsylvania: Mark Kellner (D) re-elected
Rhode Island: Billie Atkins (D) re-elected
Texas: Barton Hopkins (R) retired; Phil Prior (R) elected – R HOLD
Utah: John Elderton (R) re-elected
Washington: Alex Folan (D) defeated Howard Johnson (R) – D GAIN
West Virginia: Ray Sullivan (R) term-limited; Stan Hale (D) elected – D GAIN
Wyoming: Rick Vincent (R) term-limited; Brad Elton (R) elected – R HOLD

2009

Spoiler: 2009 elections

New Jersey: Dan Pritchard (R) defeated John Treyman (D) – R GAIN
Virginia: Mark Renton (D) term-limited; Rob Buchanan (R) elected – R GAIN

2010

​

Spoiler: 2010 elections

Alabama: John McCrory (R) retired; Stock Kinsey (R) elected – R HOLD
Arizona: Mike Lawson (D) re-elected
California: Kevin Clarkson (D) re-elected
Colorado: Oliver Moseley (R) defeated Jack Wallace (D) – R GAIN
Connecticut: Chris Casey (D) retired; Louise Northman-Paige (R) elected – R GAIN
Florida (special): Eric Swenson (R) retired; James Ritchie (R) elected – R HOLD
Georgia: Charlie Forrester (R) term-limited; Mike Schofield (R) elected – R HOLD
Hawaii: Lorraine Larvey (D) term-limited; Joanne White (D) elected – D HOLD
Indiana: Stephen Kendrick (R) re-elected
Iowa: Laura Connolly (D) retired; Carl York (R) elected – R GAIN
Louisiana: Mick Johnson (R) retired; Cole Quigley (R) elected – R HOLD
Massachusetts: Isaac Sidley (D) re-elected
Michigan: John Brennan (R) defeated Ruth Hutchins (D) – R GAIN
Montana: Gerald Vance (R) term-limited; Kurt Carner (D) elected – D GAIN
Nevada: Randy Broughton (D) defeated Dan Carrington (R) – D GAIN
New Hampshire: Kurt Breech (D) re-elected
New Mexico: Rudi Vansen (I) defeated Henry Gomez (R) – I GAIN
New York: Bill Parker (D) retired; Matthew Lewis (D) elected – D HOLD
North Carolina: Andrew Wu (R) re-elected
Ohio: Simon Halley (R) re-elected
South Dakota: Chuck Rollins (R) term-limited; Tim Masters (R) elected – R HOLD
Tennessee: John Roberts (D) retired; Shane Denham (R) elected – R GAIN
Wisconsin: Mark Katzenmoyer (D) re-elected

 

[Marky Bunny]

Friday May 3rd, 2024

Labour inflicts heavy local election defeats on Conservatives but fail to win West Suffolk by-election​

The Conservative's have suffered a string of defeats in the local elections in England and Wales which where held yesterday. Labour have so far won several of it's target council's including Redditch, Thurrock, Hartlepool, and Rushmoor but lost Blackburn, Oldham and Rochdale to no overall control with the Socialist Alliance picking up seats on each council.

In the West Suffolk by-election local Conservative Council leader Michael Gordon defeated Labour's Claire Berry by 481 votes, holding on despite a 19% swing to Labour, it was not enough to overturn the Conservative majority of 23,111 from last years general election.

Counting across the country will continue through out the day.

West Suffolk By-election

No	Party	Candidate	Votes	%	+/- %
1	Conservative	Michael Gordon	14,577	32.52%	-27.88%
2	Labour	Claire Berry	14,096	31.44%	10.64%
3	National Peoples	Terrance Forbes	10,002	22.31%	9.12%
4	Liberal Democrat	Peter Jacobs	4,183	9.33%	3.33%
5	Green	Susan Tucker	1,010	2.25%	0.14%
6	Anglia First	Wayne Randell	508	1.13%	-0.41%
7	Save The NHS	Robert Davis	262	0.58%	N/A
8	Happy Sunshine Party	William "Big Willy" O'Connell	124	0.28%	0.04%
9	English Independence	Steve Lucas	51	0.11%	N/A
10	Ban Horse Racing	Dorothy Murray	18	0.04%	N/A
			44,831	100.00%
		Majority	481	1.07%

19.26% swing from Con to Lab

 

[lord caedus]

Likely Republican Senate nominee claims he asked military superiors for permission to shoot feral cats in Qumar

Friday, May 9th, 2024

Congressman Tim Johnson (R-FL), the likely Republican Senate nominee in Florida, attracted outrage after a video of a Thursday town hall was released where the sophomore congressman expressed his distaste for cats after discussing a viral photo that compared him to a cat with large ears and a large nose, claiming to have asked military commanders to shoot feral cats while stationed in Qumar.

"I'm a dog guy," Johnson is recorded saying in the clip. "I don't like cats. Some people might like them, but I don't...I can tell you how much I don't like them: I think I was the only American officer who asked permission to designate feral cats as hostiles." After attendees laugh, Johnson adds. "I really did. They of course said 'no', but if it had been up to me, there wouldn't have been a single feral [cat] within ten kilometers of my company's position."

Johnson, the clear frontrunner in the Republican primary to oust Alicia DeSantos (D-FL), commanded a Marine company during the first few months of the occupation of Qumar, before leaving the military to care for his ailing mother following his father's death in 2017. He frequently invoked his military service during his first run for elected office in 2018, when he defeated incumbent Maria Garcia Trenton (D). In Congress, Johnson has compiled a conservative voting record, notably opposing the inclusion of gender identity into civil rights protections, among other culture war issues.

Both the DeSantos campaign and liberal political action committees have already responded with attack ads using clips from the video, while the Johnson campaign says the video clips were "taken out of context" after previously claiming the video was edited using artificial intelligence. Polls taken before the video was released had have the Sarasota-based congressman leading his nearest Republican opponent by 30 percent ahead of the August primary, while tied with DeSantos in a hypothetical head-to-head match-up.

The photo that prompted Johnson (right) to discuss his violent dislike of cats (photo: A. Driver)​

 

[lord caedus]

Tim Johnson in Qumar, 2016:

 

[lord caedus]

OOC: Yes, this is obviously based on Kristi "Cricket Had It Coming" Noem being a complete sociopath and expecting to be politically rewarded for it.

It's important to point out, though, that Johnson didn't actually kill any cats, unlike Noem taking out any unfortunate pets and petting zoo creatures who displeased her.

 

[WestWingNut]

 

[lord caedus]

Tuesday, May 14th 2024

Agreement reached on new Israeli government that would rotate prime minister position

Tel Aviv — An agreement has been reached to form a new government in Israel, one that would see the position of prime minister rotate halfway through the government's four year term.

The announcement was made Tuesday afternoon local time, with Likud leader and prime minister Gilad Doron announcing the agreement alongside Hosen leader Shaul Cohen, Kadima leader Benny Latz and Yisraeli Beiteinu leader Evet Volny, the leaders of the four parties who have signed onto form the next government. Under the terms of the agreement, Doron will remain as prime minister until changing positions with Cohen (who is designated as the new foreign minister) in May 2026.

"With this agreement, we hope to end this period of fractiousness and division in our politics." Doron said, referencing the instability that has characterized Israeli politics following the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Golan Heights in December 2022. In the 18 months that followed, Doron has acted in a caretaker capacity after a government failed to be formed after two consecutive elections thanks to the fracture in the "national camp" that had allowed Likud to dominate Israeli politics for the past few decades. Religious Zionist parties, who had grudgingly supported the Ankara Agreement that ended the violent conflicts between Israel and Palestine, broke with Likud over the handover of the Golan Heights (which Israel had occupied since 1967) to control of a United Nations force before its eventual return to Syria, leaving the government and forcing Likud into a minority government supported by opposition parties to carry out the withdrawal.

The absence of any religious parties in the new government is expected to result in the long-delayed end of exemptions for Haredi (or Ultra-Orthodox) Jewish men to avoid service in the Israeli Defense Force (IDF), an issue that the government has not acted upon despite rulings from the Supreme Court of Israel that had ruled previous blanket exemptions were unconstitutional. Similar hot-button issues related to the country's military service requirement, including the exemption of Arab Israelis without Palestinian citizenship, are likely to be similarly addressed.

The new government is expected to be ratified by a vote of the Knesset (Israeli parliament) later this week.

-----------------------------​

Stray heads to Moscow in bid to ease Eastern European tensions

Tuesday, May 14th, 2024

Secretary of State Paris Stray arrived in Moscow earlier today to meet with Russian President Natalya Romanova and seek to defuse the fraught diplomatic situation in eastern Europe that has resulted from Russia's recent cyberattacks on Ukrainian infrastructure ahead of that country's elections.

Diplomatic relations between Ukraine and Russia (alongside Russia's ally Belarus) have become increasingly chilled during Konanova's administration as the Ukrainian president seeks to move her country away from Russia's orbit and towards integration with the rest of Europe. Repeated cyberattacks by Russian military and intelligence agencies have also alarmed countries like Poland and the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, all four of whom are members of the European Union and NATO that have had fraught relationships with Russian invasion and occupation within living memory.

Stray visited both Warsaw and the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius before heading to Moscow, reassuring leaders in both countries of the United States' commitment to its NATO allies.

"The United States remains committed to a Europe where nations are free to determine their own destiny." Stray said in Warsaw. "The actions of sections of the Russian military and intelligence agencies has caused deep concern among European leaders, and we hope that this [visit to Russia] will cause a re-evaluation among elements in Moscow that think this is acceptable behavior."

The Russian government has not commented on Stray's visit to neighboring capitals, instead only noting the planned meeting between Stray and Romanova at the Kremlin.

-----------------------------​

Walken "deeply moved" in visit to Vietnam

Tuesday, May 14th, 2024

Former president Glen Allen Walken, the only former commander-in-chief to have fought in the Vietnam War, was "deeply moved" upon his first visit back to the country in over five decades.

The former president arrived aboard Air Force Two with Vice President Bobby Tyler and other American diplomats during Tyler's tour of southeast Asia, which will culminate in Tyler's scheduled meeting with Chinese President Shi Xinling. Walken, who has reportedly served as an unofficial advisor for his successor in several areas of American foreign policy, was attached to the trip at President Seaborn's direction to ensure what the White House described as "a continuity in the relationship the United States enjoys the nations of southeastern Asia," which among Washington insiders has been taken as a sign of disagreement on certain foreign policy issues between Seaborn and Tyler.

While the former president only made a brief statement to the press after Tyler's meeting with President Thanh Manh Toan of Vietnam, he was clearly moved by his brief reception and the changes the country had undergone since the end of the war.

"I could never have believed when I flew out of Da Nang [in 1969] that I would ever see this country at peace, and its leaders and citizens alike greeting a former American president as a friend and ally. It's a deeply moving experience, and I'm grateful that I was able to have it."

Tyler and his delegation departed Vietnam for the Philippines, where the vice president will meet with President Paulo Zumel before flying to Beijing. Several members of Congress, from both parties, have criticized the exclusion of Taiwan on the vice president's itinerary, which the White House says is meant to "avoid provocation" with Beijing, which claims Taiwan as part of the People's Republic of China.

Since the end of American involvement in Vietnam, only one sitting president (Matt Santos) has visited Vietnam. In his post-presidential memoirs, Walken disclosed that he had declined an invitation to visit Vietnam while president, writing that "A rush of conflicted feelings and long-buried memories came pouring loose, moving me back in time and space to a place I had been so glad to escape from." The 45th president concluded that he could not "do the American people's business to the degree required" if he had visited the country as president, and so declined to visit (then-Secretary of State Bradley Gilmore travelled to Vietnam instead).

 

[WestWingNut]

Tuesday, May 14th 2024

Agreement reached on new Israeli government that would rotate prime minister position

Tel Aviv — An agreement has been reached to form a new government in Israel, one that would see the position of prime minister rotate halfway through the government's four year term.

The announcement was made Tuesday afternoon local time, with Likud leader and prime minister Gilad Doron announcing the agreement alongside Hosen leader Shaul Cohen, Kadima leader Benny Latz and Yisraeli Beiteinu leader Evet Volny, the leaders of the four parties who have signed onto form the next government. Under the terms of the agreement, Doron will remain as prime minister until changing positions with Cohen (who is designated as the new foreign minister) in May 2026.

"With this agreement, we hope to end this period of fractiousness and division in our politics." Doron said, referencing the instability that has characterized Israeli politics following the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Golan Heights in December 2022. In the 18 months that followed, Doron has acted in a caretaker capacity after a government failed to be formed after two consecutive elections thanks to the fracture in the "national camp" that had allowed Likud to dominate Israeli politics for the past few decades. Religious Zionist parties, who had grudgingly supported the Ankara Agreement that ended the violent conflicts between Israel and Palestine, broke with Likud over the handover of the Golan Heights (which Israel had occupied since 1967) to control of a United Nations force before its eventual return to Syria, leaving the government and forcing Likud into a minority government supported by opposition parties to carry out the withdrawal.

The absence of any religious parties in the new government is expected to result in the long-delayed end of exemptions for Haredi (or Ultra-Orthodox) Jewish men to avoid service in the Israeli Defense Force (IDF), an issue that the government has not acted upon despite rulings from the Supreme Court of Israel that had ruled previous blanket exemptions were unconstitutional. Similar hot-button issues related to the country's military service requirement, including the exemption of Arab Israelis without Palestinian citizenship, are likely to be similarly addressed.

The new government is expected to be ratified by a vote of the Knesset (Israeli parliament) later this week.

-----------------------------​

Stray heads to Moscow in bid to ease Eastern European tensions

Tuesday, May 14th, 2024

Secretary of State Paris Stray arrived in Moscow earlier today to meet with Russian President Natalya Romanova and seek to defuse the fraught diplomatic situation in eastern Europe that has resulted from Russia's recent cyberattacks on Ukrainian infrastructure ahead of that country's elections.

Diplomatic relations between Ukraine and Russia (alongside Russia's ally Belarus) have become increasingly chilled during Konanova's administration as the Ukrainian president seeks to move her country away from Russia's orbit and towards integration with the rest of Europe. Repeated cyberattacks by Russian military and intelligence agencies have also alarmed countries like Poland and the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, all four of whom are members of the European Union and NATO that have had fraught relationships with Russian invasion and occupation within living memory.

Stray visited both Warsaw and the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius before heading to Moscow, reassuring leaders in both countries of the United States' commitment to its NATO allies.

"The United States remains committed to a Europe where nations are free to determine their own destiny." Stray said in Warsaw. "The actions of sections of the Russian military and intelligence agencies has caused deep concern among European leaders, and we hope that this [visit to Russia] will cause a re-evaluation among elements in Moscow that think this is acceptable behavior."

The Russian government has not commented on Stray's visit to neighboring capitals, instead only noting the planned meeting between Stray and Romanova at the Kremlin.

-----------------------------​

Walken "deeply moved" in visit to Vietnam

Tuesday, May 14th, 2024

Former president Glen Allen Walken, the only former commander-in-chief to have fought in the Vietnam War, was "deeply moved" upon his first visit back to the country in over five decades.

The former president arrived aboard Air Force Two with Vice President Bobby Tyler and other American diplomats during Tyler's tour of southeast Asia, which will culminate in Tyler's scheduled meeting with Chinese President Shi Xinling. Walken, who has reportedly served as an unofficial advisor for his successor in several areas of American foreign policy, was attached to the trip at President Seaborn's direction to ensure what the White House described as "a continuity in the relationship the United States enjoys the nations of southeastern Asia," which among Washington insiders has been taken as a sign of disagreement on certain foreign policy issues between Seaborn and Tyler.

While the former president only made a brief statement to the press after Tyler's meeting with President Thanh Manh Toan of Vietnam, he was clearly moved by his brief reception and the changes the country had undergone since the end of the war.

"I could never have believed when I flew out of Da Nang [in 1969] that I would ever see this country at peace, and its leaders and citizens alike greeting a former American president as a friend and ally. It's a deeply moving experience, and I'm grateful that I was able to have it."

Tyler and his delegation departed Vietnam for the Philippines, where the vice president will meet with President Paulo Zumel before flying to Beijing. Several members of Congress, from both parties, have criticized the exclusion of Taiwan on the vice president's itinerary, which the White House says is meant to "avoid provocation" with Beijing, which claims Taiwan as part of the People's Republic of China.

Since the end of American involvement in Vietnam, only one sitting president (Matt Santos) has visited Vietnam. In his post-presidential memoirs, Walken disclosed that he had declined an invitation to visit Vietnam while president, writing that "A rush of conflicted feelings and long-buried memories came pouring loose, moving me back in time and space to a place I had been so glad to escape from." The 45th president concluded that he could not "do the American people's business to the degree required" if he had visited the country as president, and so declined to visit (then-Secretary of State Bradley Gilmore travelled to Vietnam instead).

Please tell me you had Walter Sobchak in mind when you made Walken a Vietnam War Veteran.

 

[lord caedus]

Warnick defeats Rudden in Indiana primary

Tuesday, May 14th, 2024

NBS can confirm that Indiana State Treasurer Todd Warnick has defeated former governor Emily Rudden in the Republican primary for the United States Senate race in Indiana.

With 95% of the vote counted, Warnick is projected to have won by a 57-43 margin, a surprising margin after polls taken in the final weeks of the primary campaign showed the two candidates neck-and-neck.

The race to challenge incumbent senator Rudi Robinson (D) (who was unopposed in the Democratic primary) was one of the most high-profile primary races, given Robinson's vulnerability and Rudden's membership on Andrew Long's independent presidential ticket two years ago. Warnick, who vocally supported Republican nominee Alan Duke in 2022, attacked Rudden for "betraying conservative values" for her opposition to Duke, support for some circumstances on which abortion should be allowed, and for raising taxes during her term as governor to pay for increased infrastructure and drug treatment programs. Rudden, for her part, criticized Warnick for his "black and white" worldview, comments calling same-sex attraction "unnatural" and highlighted his poorer results in head-to-head polling against Robinson than if the state's senior senator were facing off against her.

Millions of dollars in late ad campaigns by conservative PACs (political action committees) attacking Rudden appeared to have tipped the balance against the former governor, despite her reportedly spending slightly more than the Warnick campaign, and with a higher percentage of donations coming from Indiana voters.

"We need a Republican majority in the United States Senate to keep President Seaborn accountable and that is why I hope Todd Warnick will be the next senator from Indiana." Rudden said in her concession speech. For his part, Warnick was gracious to Rudden, congratulating the former governor on a well-fought campaign and promised to work to heal any rifts in the party ahead of what is expected to be a bruising general election campaign against Robinson.

 

[lord caedus]

Please tell me you had Walter Sobchak in mind when you made Walken a Vietnam War Veteran.

Disputed established Walken as a Vietnam vet years before I began contributing, so I have no idea if Goodman's role in The Big Lebowski factored into having Walken serve in 'Nam or if it was just Goodman/Walken being old enough to have served in Vietnam and the character seeming like someone who wouldn't have tried to dodge the draft.

I also just learned that Goodman apparently missed out on being drafted IRL because Army doctors measured his height wrong, thinking he was 11 pounds too heavy to serve, and the draft was abolished before he was scheduled to be re-evaluated.

 

[lord caedus]

BREAKING: Quincy announces cancer diagnosis, retirement from Court

Monday, May 21st, 2024

Supreme Court Justice Joe Quincy has just announced that he will resign from the Supreme Court, effective upon the confirmation of his successor, after being diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer.

"It has been the honor of my life to have served on our nation's highest bench, and to sit in the same chambers that held men like Brandeis, Ashland and Brady," Quincy said in a press conference beside President Sam Seaborn. The second-youngest justice on the court, the 54 year-old Quincy said he had been diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic cancer, with a prognosis of "only months, not years" left to live.

Appointed to the Supreme Court in 2017 by President Glen Allen Walken, Quincy is a member of the court's conservative bloc. He originally clerked for liberal Chief Justice Roy Ashland, developing a close friendship with the former chief despite the two sharing differing judicial and political beliefs. In spite of his political affiliation, Quincy briefly served as associate White House counsel (from 2003 to 2004) in the administration of Josiah Bartlet, where he earned a place in American political history by being the first person to connect then-vice president John Hoynes to Washington socialite Helen Baldwin, revealing Hoynes' disclosure of classified information during the course of the affair, a move that led to Hoynes' resignation from office and resulted in then-Speaker of the House Walken to assume the duties of the presidency during the Zoey Bartlet kidnapping crisis a week later. In turn, Quincy would serve as solicitor general for two years (2015 to 2017) in Walken's administration before being named to the court.

President Seaborn spoke briefly, saying it was a "tragic day" for the Supreme Court, and praised Quincy's "dedication to the rule of law, the idea of an impartial and fair system of justice" and his service to the nation. The president acknowledged the political ramifications of Quincy's departure from the court, but said that he would consult with leaders of both parties in the Senate ahead of selecting a nominee to replace Quincy in order to avoid what he called "political grandstanding" and ensure a swift confirmation ahead of November's midterm elections.

This will be the third Supreme Court vacancy Seaborn will have the opportunity to fill, and the second (after the replacement of Jackson Hoyt by Ronald Lin) that is expected to move the court to the left.

 

[lord caedus]

King claims "deep state actors" are giving conservative Supreme Court justices cancer

Tuesday, May 21st, 2024

Congresswoman Patty King, who is challenging incumbent senator Charlie Forrester for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination in Georgia, claimed on social media that "deep state actors" are working to give conservative Supreme Court justices cancer.

The far-right congresswoman made the claims after Associate Justice Joe Quincy, the most recent appointee by a Republican president, announced his impending resignation from the court after a terminal pancreatic cancer diagnosis.

"Deep state actors have been working to give certain CONSTITUTION-LOVING [sic] members of SCOTUS [Supreme Court of the United States] cancer," King posted on her official Twitter/X account. "They want to make it easier for Sam Seaborn to impose his globalist-friendly agenda on Americans, and we need to stop it!"

Congressman Peter Zelowsky (D-ME), chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and one of the few current or former medical doctors in Congress, called King's statement "patently absurd" and "actively harmful" to public education on the causes of cancer. The American Medical Association and American Cancer Society have also criticized King's claim.

The most recent Supreme Court vacancy prior to Quincy's announcement was caused by the death of Associate Justice Jackson Hoyt (appointed by Owen Lassiter) from lung cancer in 2023. Unlike Quincy, Hoyt was known to be a lifelong smoker, only quitting when fellow court tobacco aficionado Edward Appleton did so after Appleton reached ten years on the court.

Aside from Quincy, the only other court member to have an acknowledged serious medical condition is the court's most senior justice, Associate Justice Roberto Mendoza. A member of the liberal wing, Mendoza (aged 79) has chronic persistent hepatitis and acknowledged in 2021 that he had surgery to remove pre-cancerous growths on several of his lymph nodes.

-----------------------------​

First gun control bill in decades sent to Seaborn's desk

Tuesday, May 21st, 2024

President Sam Seaborn will be the first president in three decades to have his signature on a major piece of gun control legislation, after the Senate agreed to a conference committee's revision of the previously-passed Protect Our Communities Act (POCA).

By a margin of67 to 28, the Senate agreed to the new version of the bill that emerged from a congressional conference committee after the Senate and House bills differed over the inclusion of a ban on high-capacity magazines and the presence of grants to state and local governments (for mental health and crisis prevention services) and school districts who seek to make their buildings "harder targets" for potential mass shooters.

The conference committee version of the bill largely matched the Senate version of the bill owing to the considerably higher difficulties in getting the legislation through the Senate with a slim Democratic majority, according to congressional sources. The largest concession to the House version was a new provision amends disclosure laws for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearm (ATF)'s National Tracing Center to allow some of its data to be used for academic research.

The act will increase the age to purchase handguns or semi-automatic rifles to 21, ban those convicted of either stalking or a domestic violence offense to a non-married partner for 10 years after their conviction, increase the penalties for straw purchases and arms trafficking as well as the number of federal grants available for police departments to purchase protective equipment, set aside funds for states to implement "red flag" laws, and expand the definition of which private sellers are required to have a federal firearm license (FFL) in order to close the "gun show loophole" that has allowed some private sellers (estimated by the White House at 20,000 compared to 80,000 federally-licensed firearm dealers) in states without universal background check laws to sell guns without performing a background check.

Seaborn, who promised to "get the guns" during his first campaign for the presidency in 2018, will sign the bill tomorrow in a White House ceremony at noon local time.

 

[RRusso1982]

When is the Senate primary in Georgia?

 

[RRusso1982]

What is the Senate makeup now? It is 51-49, right? Seaborn will have a hard time nominating someone too far to the left. The Republicans will probably feel a lot more free to filibuster after holding their fire with Ronald Lin and there are a few red state Democrats (Mannix in Kentucky, Remmick in Louisiana, Smith in Arkansas) who may not vote for someone too far to the left. One who will really be in a tough spot is Rudi Robinson in Indiana. He is up this year, as well as Alicia DeSantos in Florida. A couple of Republicans who will be in a tough spot are Buchanan and Rojas.

 

[WestWingNut]

What is the Senate makeup now? It is 51-49, right? Seaborn will have a hard time nominating someone too far to the left. The Republicans will probably feel a lot more free to filibuster after holding their fire with Ronald Lin and there are a few red state Democrats (Mannix in Kentucky, Remmick in Louisiana, Smith in Arkansas) who may not vote for someone too far to the left. One who will really be in a tough spot is Rudi Robinson in Indiana. He is up this year, as well as Alicia DeSantos in Florida. A couple of Republicans who will be in a tough spot are Buchanan and Rojas.

Maybe Sam can do what Bartlett did in The Supremes. How old's Mendoza at this point? He's not getting any younger.

 

[Prometheus_2300]

Maybe Sam can do what Bartlett did in The Supremes. How old's Mendoza at this point? He's not getting any younger.

Doubtful, Mendoza was established in the Supremes as being a bit of a moderate, so I doubt the GOP is willing to go for replacing a moderate, and another conservative justice with two Seaborn appointee centrists (which might be the best Sam can get unless the Senate changes its rules).

The Supremes was able to happen because Ashland was a liberal lion, and Brady a conservative lion. Replacing that pair with Mulready and Lang was doable due to TV show logic. It also is a testament to how disciplined the parties were during the Bartlet Years, no one... leaked or tried to scupper Lang's nomination, or Mulready's. Sure the episode ended with the announcement, and we saw later they were confirmed, but the fact that those confirmations weren't an arc of 4 or 5 episodes tells us that it was relatively painless confirmation.

 

[lord caedus]

When is the Senate primary in Georgia?

June.

What is the Senate makeup now? It is 51-49, right? Seaborn will have a hard time nominating someone too far to the left. The Republicans will probably feel a lot more free to filibuster after holding their fire with Ronald Lin and there are a few red state Democrats (Mannix in Kentucky, Remmick in Louisiana, Smith in Arkansas) who may not vote for someone too far to the left. One who will really be in a tough spot is Rudi Robinson in Indiana. He is up this year, as well as Alicia DeSantos in Florida. A couple of Republicans who will be in a tough spot are Buchanan and Rojas.

Yes, the Senate is still 51 Democrats to 49 Republicans.

Maybe Sam can do what Bartlett did in The Supremes. How old's Mendoza at this point? He's not getting any younger.

Aside from Quincy, the only other court member to have an acknowledged serious medical condition is the court's most senior justice, Associate Justice Roberto Mendoza. A member of the liberal wing, Mendoza (aged 79) has chronic persistent hepatitis and acknowledged in 2021 that he had surgery to remove pre-cancerous growths on several of his lymph nodes.

.

The Supremes was able to happen because Ashland was a liberal lion, and Brady a conservative lion.

Well, that and that Ashland was clearly losing it towards the end, to the point where Bartlet was warning him privately that all of the associate justices were prepared to wrestle control over the court away from him.

I had thought that having an ailing, decrepit Chief Justice refusing to retire was a reference to then-Chief Justice William Rehnquist's clearly deteriorating health towards the end of his tenure on the court (go look up how old and frail he looked at Bush's second inauguration) and refusal to retire, but no. The episode where Ashland had his health scare aired in November 2003 and the court publicly announced Rehnquist's cancer diagnosis in September 2004. Another apparent instance of the writers having the gift of prophecy.