Originally posted by lastmanstanding: ...People will vote with their pocket books absent any other logic. That's how it has often worked. It's not just gas it's the grocery store it's the hardware store it's anywhere you shop. Everything is way up. I just paid $90 for a box of 700 decking screws. This is the kind of thing that gets the lower middle class out to vote. But not in the way we would like.
Absolutely, quoted and emphasized for truth. We're not talking about Trump's 100% supporters, those who continue to say "short term pain for long term gain", and those who will continue to vote Republicans despite being frustrated because voting otherwise is a nonstarter. We're talking those moderates, independents and fence sitters here. The longer this continues, the closer the midterm (which is only 6 months away) gets and the elephant only grows bigger.
Moderates, independents and fence sitters have very short term memories and few principles. Also, recent elections don't match this at all. Look no further than the 2022 midterms:
Let's start with the price of gasoline compared to today (i.e. 2022 was even higher prices with an even higher percent change in prices):
They were predicting a "red wave" due to what a drooling, incompetent, moron Biden was, but the house was a tiny gain and the senate was a loss:
Moderates, independents and fence sitters are not the biggest factor in an election but the media loves to swoon all over them. The biggest factor in an election is each party's voter base turnout (i.e party with least amount of base staying home). Despite Biden sucking donkey balls only 46.2% of eligible voters bothered to get off their ass and vote in 2022 midterm which was a decrease from 50% in the 2018 midterm. To quote Grok, "the structural edge goes to whichever side better retains its own voters rather than converting the fickle middle."
To paraphrase what Para has said several election years, "gird your loins and encourage one another to get out and vote"This message has been edited. Last edited by: tatortodd,
Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity
DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.
May 13, 2026, 06:11 PM
2BobTanner
Next Tuesday is the Kentucky primaries. Looks like another RINO/Dem is about to fall, with a 5%-point deficit. Massie started out as a Tea Party type, but morphed into something else. Trump called him out, and now he’s gone.
Quantus Insights reported that out of 908 respondents, Gallrein received 48.3% of the vote, Massie earned 43.1%, and 7.6% were still undecided. Among those undecided voters, 71 of 86 respondents, or 52.4%, said they leaned toward Gallrein.
“The initial ballot is a warning sign,” Quantus Insights said in a news release. “Massie retains a substantial base, but the topline suggests that a meaningful share of the Republican primary electorate is already prepared to move in another direction
--------------------- DJT-45/47 MAGA !!!!!
“Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur.”
"Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on, or by imbeciles who really mean it." — Mark Twain
“Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.” — H. L. Mencken
President Trump stared down Xi Jinping and delivered a masterstroke that left the room in silence:
“I brought the 30 most powerful business leaders on the planet to these talks… and they all said yes. I didn’t send the second-in-command or the vice president.
I wanted the number one from each empire! Jensen Huang, Tim Cook, Elon Musk, and the other titans… the best in the world are here, right in front of you.”
Then, with his winner’s smile, he sealed the deal: “They’re here today to pay respect to you and to China. They come hungry to do business, invest, and create. From our side, it’ll be 100% reciprocal.”
The message is clear: America isn’t coming to beg. It’s coming with the supreme bosses of global innovation to lay all the cards on the table.
This isn’t normal diplomacy… this is high-voltage diplomacy!
May 14, 2026, 04:22 PM
pbslinger
Maybe my eyes were playing tricks, but did the soldiers who goose stepped past DT and Xi all look alike. I'm not talking about westerner perspective of Asians looking similar, but did Xi "bring in the clones!"?
Trump says U.S. kills Islamic State leader in Nigeria Joe Walsh Sat, May 16, 2026 at 12:43 AM EDT
President Trump announced Friday evening that U.S. and Nigerian military forces had killed Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, a leader of the Islamic State group, in a "meticulously planned and very complex mission."
Mr. Trump described al-Minuki as the Islamic State's second-in-command globally and "the most active terrorist in the world."
"He will no longer terrorize the people of Africa, or help plan operations to target Americans," Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social. "With his removal, ISIS's global operation is greatly diminished."
A native of Nigeria, al-Minuki was described by the U.S. State Department in 2023 as a leader of the Islamic State, or ISIS, in Africa's Sahel region. At the time, he served as a senior official in one of the Islamic State's General Directorate of Provinces offices, which "provide operational guidance and funding around the world," according to the State Department.
He was placed on the Treasury Department's specially designated global terrorist list in 2023, hitting him with steep sanctions.
The Islamic State has diminished significantly since the U.S., its regional allies, Iran and other forces wrested large swaths of territory in Iraq and Syria from the group's control starting in 2017. But the U.S.-designated terrorist group and its affiliates have remained present in parts of the Middle East and Africa since then, carrying out insurgent attacks.
The group's West Africa branches have a presence in Nigeria and in the Sahel, particularly in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. Suspected attacks by the Islamic State have been reported in all four countries in recent months, including an offensive on a military base in Nigeria and clashes with other Islamist groups, according to the International Crisis Group.
Mr. Trump ordered an earlier round of strikes on Islamic State targets in Nigeria in Christmas Day last year. The U.S. military's Africa Command said "multiple ISIS terrorists" were killed in camps.
The president pressed Nigeria last fall to take more action against terrorism, accusing the country of failing to deal with rampant violence against Christians. The Nigerian government has denied that the country allows religious persecution, and analysts say large numbers of Muslims and Christians have been harmed by insurgency in northern Nigeria.
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A good rule of thumb is if someone is a little too focused on self promotion, it doesn’t matter if they proclaim the same principles that you believe - true colors will come soon enough.
Marjorie Taylor Green, Anna Paula Luna, Lauren Boebert, Pam Bondi… the list goes on. It’s not a gender issue, it’s a consistent problem that plagues politics in the US.
The next time you hear a sound bite from a politician and think “this is the right person!”, do some digging first.
May 17, 2026, 08:11 AM
lastmanstanding
quote:
Anna Paula Luna
Did she turncoat? What did she do? MTG is a wack job. Boebert is a self absorbed bimbo like Noem and Bondi is just plain lazy and ineffective. I thought Luna was pretty solid.
"Fixed fortifications are monuments to mans stupidity" - George S. Patton
May 17, 2026, 09:53 AM
DanH
Luna is eccentric, but I wouldn't put her in MTG territory. Her big things were claiming we'll finally know the REAL truth about the JFK assassination and the government's UFO knowledge.
May 17, 2026, 10:50 AM
oddball
Marco Rubio backs JD Vance in 2028.
quote:
I’m going to be in this job for the next two and a half years. I’m going to do that job. I’m going to finish the job for this president. I’m enjoying it very much. I think we’re going to make a lot of good things happen. JD is a very good friend of mine. If JD runs for president. I think he’d be a phenomenal candidate. I’ve said publicly, and I’ll say it again, I’ll be the first person to sign up and support him. I think JD would do great.
He did not flat out state he would not run in 2028, but I think this takes some of the gossip out in regards to Rubio wanting to run for POTUS in 2028.
"I’m not going to read Time Magazine, I’m not going to read Newsweek, I’m not going to read any of these magazines; I mean, because they have too much to lose by printing the truth"- Bob Dylan, 1965
May 17, 2026, 11:45 AM
downtownv
quote:
Originally posted by lastmanstanding:
quote:
Anna Paula Luna
Did she turncoat? What did she do? MTG is a wack job. Boebert is a self-absorbed bimbo like Noem and Bondi is just plain lazy and ineffective. I thought Luna was pretty solid.
LMS, you are spot on!
_________________________
May 17, 2026, 01:15 PM
pedropcola
Vance then Rubio would take me nicely to my golden years. I think both men are solid choices although I lean towards Rubio if I had to choose.
May 17, 2026, 04:23 PM
Pipe Smoker
It’s possible that Rubio’s declaration of support for Vance is a tactical move. Politics isn’t necessarily WYSIWYG. Both are solid MAGA folks.
Serious about crackers.
May 18, 2026, 10:08 AM
HRK
Hmmmm maybe the reason Biden wanted to forgive all loans made by the government, it appears to be another avenue to grift funds illegally from the Federal Taxpayers
Is Rubio willing to be Vance's running mate? He's still young, but that means potentially waiting for eight more years. It will certainly give him time to build his already impressive credentials, but sad to say no party has ever held on to the Presidency for more than three terms.
