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OCCUPY DEMOCRATS

Beth McDonnell  Elon Musk and MAGA supporters going to war with each other is the entertaining type of chaos I guess I needed to close out the year. On one side, you’ve got Musk literally telling people to go f*** themselves “in the face” while defending H-1B visas, and on the other, MAGA bros whining about the very system that’s built half the tech they depend on for their meme wars.Musk’s “I’ll go to war” theatrics are just another day in his ongoing quest to cosplay as Tony Stark while glossing over issues like worker exploitation. Meanwhile, MAGA wants to torch H-1Bs without realizing they’d be left with fewer jobs, less innovation, and possibly worse tech.The best part? They deserve each other. Musk courts the MAGA crowd with his free-speech absolutism and culture-war posturing, but the second they turn on his interests, he flips faster than a Tesla in a recall. And MAGA? The ones who can afford it will keep buying his ridiculously ugly Cybertrucks and using his platforms to demand racist policies - thinking voting for Trump (and Musk) would fulfill their promises to rid the country of all foreigners - yet both of these men owe their empires to immigrants (and Musk ironically is one himself no less).It’s like watching two villains fight over who gets to burn the house down. Pass the popcorn - this is epitome dystopian comedy.

OCCUPY DEMOCRATS

Jim Vincent  ·The peaceful transfer of power, a cornerstone of American democracy, is at risk. The new president cannot take office on January 20 unless the Republican-controlled House of Representatives resolves its internal divisions and elects a Speaker in time to certify the election results.The Republican Party, holding a narrow 219-215 majority in the House of Representatives, faces an urgent and critical task: electing a Speaker to lead the chamber and enable Congress to function. Without a Speaker, the House cannot swear in its members, pass legislation, or, most alarmingly, certify the results of the presidential election on January 6. The stakes could not be higher, yet the party’s internal divisions make achieving this basic responsibility increasingly unlikely.To elect a Speaker, a candidate must secure a majority of the votes cast—at least 218 in the current House, where one seat remains vacant. With all Democrats expected to oppose any Republican candidate, the GOP has no margin for error. If even two Republicans defect or abstain, the party’s candidate cannot win. Given the recent history of factional infighting within the Republican caucus, including challenges from hardline groups like the Freedom Caucus, a deadlock is more than plausible—it’s likely.This deadlock would immediately paralyze the House. Without a Speaker, no business can proceed. Members cannot be sworn in, committees cannot be formed, and, critically, the chamber cannot participate in the January 6 joint session of Congress to certify the Electoral College results. The Constitution requires both the House and Senate to meet and formally certify the election, and without a Speaker, the House cannot fulfill this duty.If the January 6 certification is delayed, the nation would enter uncharted territory. By law, a new president must take office by noon on January 20. But if Congress has not certified the election results, the process of transferring power becomes murky. The constitutional framework provides no clear answer to what happens if certification fails, leaving the presidency—and the stability of the government—in question.The consequences of such a failure would be catastrophic. Public trust in democratic institutions, already fragile, would erode further. Legal challenges and political brinkmanship could consume the nation. Foreign adversaries might exploit the chaos, while domestic divisions deepen. The U.S., a nation that prides itself on its orderly transitions of power, would find itself grappling with a crisis unprecedented in its history.The responsibility for avoiding this disaster rests squarely on the Republican majority. As the governing party in the House, they hold the power to elect a Speaker and avert chaos. Yet the deep rifts within their caucus—between moderates, hardliners, and factions demanding concessions—have made unity nearly impossible. This dysfunction has already hobbled the party’s legislative agenda in the past and now threatens the nation itself.The Democrats, meanwhile, have little incentive to help. Unified in their opposition, they are unlikely to support any Republican Speaker without significant concessions, which the GOP is unlikely to offer. This leaves the Republican Party in a perilous position: they must solve their internal divisions or risk plunging the country into a constitutional crisis.Time is running out. If the Republican Party cannot elect a Speaker by January 6, the nation could face an electoral deadlock with no clear resolution. The failure to perform this fundamental duty would be more than a political embarrassment—it would be a moment of reckoning for the republic, exposing the fragility of its democratic institutions and the consequences of a fractured majority.

Sad when a CEO gets more press for being gunned down than those poor innocent children who don't command multimillion dollar salaries or determine the course of someone else's life…

Let's hope it does not come to this but polio has not been eradicated…

Says someone who'll never have to miss a meal or even buy cheap Walmart stuff.