BlackJack

I would like to offer to pay the salaries of TSA personnel during this funding impasse that is negatively affecting the lives of so many Americans at airports throughout the country

There is a cult of personality quality to the 40% voting base. Whoever comes after Trump is not going to have an unshakable 40%. The rift opening up with the latest war is going to make the 2028 primaries brutal if it doesn’t wind up soon.

Its a combination of corruption, Libertarianism, and the Natives. Murkowski is more easily understood in the context of understanding "Uncle Ted." Not Kaczinsky, but Stevens. Ted Stevens was put on trial for corruption-type charges in 2008. Everybody knew he was guilty. The Feds had to put him on trial in DC because they couldn't get a fair trial in Alaska. They couldn't get a fair trial in Alaska because Alaskans didn't care. So what if Ted got some free furniture? Alaska was thriving largely off of his excellent work. Alaskans have far more tolerance for corruption and inertia than they claim to have. Alaskans are, in my experience, far more prone to talk than action. Murkowski wins off of this. She famously got her start being appointed to her Senate seat when her dad, the previous occupant, died. This should have been a major red flag, but Frank Murkowski was pretty popular so it was tolerated. Murkowski lost a primary in 2010, but ran as a write-in and somehow allegedly won, despite not even being on the ballot and running against both a Republican and a Democrat. The map here shows the results of that 2010 election. That big red area that voted for the Republican is Alaska's traditional "Red Wall." Where Murkowski got all of these write-in ballots from is (1) Anchorage, and (2) everywhere not on the road system. Mail-in ballots have always been legal in Alaska. Alaska takes forever to count votes because, legitimately, a third of the population lives in places only accessible by boat, plane, ATV, or dogsled. Alaskan Natives are an overwhelmingly Democrat-voting bloc, yet somehow Murkowski outperformed everyone on the ballot. This is one of those things that defies every political rule and trend in the book, and so its obviously fraudulent, but nobody could ever prove it. Litigation happened, but it went nowhere. Since 2010, this map has also shown the overall constituency of Alaska's Senate delegation: Murkowski represents the people in the green area, and Sullivan the people in the red area. The problem is the people in the green area aren't Republicans. They vote for... well, I'll just leave at these areas vote Democrat. "Democrat" is also a bad word in Alaska. Even most of the Democrats there don't like to identify themselves as one. They usually run as "Independent" or "Unaffiliated." So, Murkowski has built herself a coalition of Alaskan Natives, Libertarians, and the Alaskan Elites. Democrats can't beat her because the Red Wall hates Democrats so much, but a Republican challenger can't beat her either because she has sufficient vote dominance (and probably enough fraud) in the bush to overcome the challenge.

Ok, I'm apparently not good at writing parables, because nearly everyone interpreted it wrong. I used a parable because I want to respect others' service records, especially when not all the facts are out yet. So let's pivot to a much more direct analogy. In 2016, career intelligence professionals, people who had genuinely spent their lives fighting America's enemies, became convinced that a foreign power had compromised the incoming president. They had data points. Real ones. Trump had business dealings in Moscow. He said nice things about Putin on camera. People in his orbit had meetings with Russian nationals. A dossier appeared with salacious claims. Each data point individually was... a data point. But they were looking for Russia. So they found Russia. Everywhere. They were so certain they were right that they leaked to the press. They used classification authority to spy on American citizens. They presented unverified opposition research to a FISA court as intelligence. Peter Strzok texted about "insurance policies." Andrew McCabe authorized leaks. They were experienced professionals who genuinely believed the republic was in danger. Their service records were real. Their concern was sincere. And they were wrong.

I'm a Smurf. I've been hired to run counter-intelligence operations at Smurf Village. My role is political; I've personally gone up against the evil wizard Gargamel. But once I'm on the inside, I discover that Smurf Village has a relationship with a goat-riding human boy called Peewit. Peewit isn't a Smurf. He's caused a lot of damage with his antics over the years. Why is he even here? I start digging. I pull up Papa Smurf's history with Peewit. Papa Smurf has been collaborating with this kid for years. Protecting him. Making excuses for him. Why? Peewit is reckless. Peewit makes messes. But Papa Smurf keeps letting him back in. The more I dig, the more Peewit I find. He's everywhere. In every file, behind every favor, connected to every mess. A picture forms in my head: if I'm looking for Peewit everywhere and I keep finding Peewit, the only logical conclusion is that Peewit is the one controlling Papa Smurf. Then a prominent Smurf gets assassinated. They say Gargamel's people did it. Case closed, move along. But I get access to the dead Smurf's private messages. And there's Peewit. Right there in the chats. The same Peewit I've been laser-focused on all year. Pressuring him. Making demands. I bring this to Papa Smurf and his inner circle. I bring it with alarm. Papa Smurf looks at me funny. And then — just like that — I'm kicked out of the investigation. No explanation. Just... out. This is the final proof that Peewit is controlling the Smurf Village. I know what I saw. I have to get the truth out there. So I do the unthinkable. I leak the information.

There’s just not a lot of guys in the country that can make this throw…. Someone’s going to be lucky to get Ty Simpson

🚨 BREAKING: Sen. John Kennedy says there are MULTIPLE WAYS to force the SAVE America Act through the Senate — even WITHOUT the talking filibuster or 60 votes "We ought to be doing it through RECONCILIATION, which only requires 50 VOTES plus the Vice President!" When asked why Thune isn't doing that now, Kennedy said "I have NO IDEA!" Why all the games??! JUST PASS THE DAMN BILL!

Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) says the SAVE America Act can pass through the Senate with only 51 votes and without the talking filibuster: “We ought to be doing it through reconciliation, which only requires 50 votes plus the Vice President!”