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Thanks to COmtnlady for the heads up.

Brought to you by Nick Carraway.

“During college, we had a running cartoon called “The Adventures of Implosion Boy.” It was a simple enough cartoon. A little boy wore a costume with a large I and called himself “Implosion Boy.” He told unwitting bystanders that if they didn’t give him what he wanted he would implode at will. Somehow throughout the life of the cartoon (several months as it turned out) no one called him on his bluff.

So, Implosion Boy grew a few sizes in the waistline as he conned people out of sandwiches, pizza, and ice cream. The reaction was always the same. Everyone acted like hostages in a bank heist. They forked over the stuff to avoid seeing something that couldn’t possibly harm them even if he could deliver on his promise. I think everyone sees the parallels here.

I’m happy that we’ve all become engaged about the process. I’m happy that so many people now know about “Safe Harbor” and know exactly when the electoral college officially votes. I’m happy that people know when Congress officially certifies the electors and their votes. I’m certain we’ve also learned quite a bit about the legal process as well. Thank you Donald Trump.

Yet, I can’t get the nagging image of Implosion Boy out of my head. I can’t help but wonder if more than a few Republicans would call his bluff that all of this would be over. It would have been over a long time ago. Maybe we could have gotten some things done in the last four years if someone had just patted him on the head and told him to go ahead and implode.

Sure, maybe you lose his base, but the hard lesson of politics is that there is really nowhere for his base to go. Do they suddenly become Bernie Sanders supporters? Do they suddenly go from being ardent racists to being progressive? They can vote Republican or not vote. Those were always their choices. So, cow towing to them is a lot like giving Implosion Boy a sandwich. Sure, he didn’t implode. Better have another sandwich at the ready for after the inauguration.”

Texas Republicans lost a supermajority in the Texas Senate this election, so …. yeah, they want to change the rules.  Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, the man best known for saying he was willing to die of Covid to keep the great Texas economy going and every grandparent should, has a simple solution.

Dan The Tricky Man

Currently, Senate rules say 19 of the chamber’s 31 members — three-fifths — must agree to call up a bill for debate. Patrick said in the statement that he is recommending lowering that threshold to 18 senators, aligning with the size of the GOP majority heading into the legislative session that begins next month.

This is not the first time Lt. Gov Patrick has pulled this stunt. I think they should be consistent and change the rules to say: However many Republicans are in the senate constitutes a supermajority.

Now I’m waiting for New York or some other foreign state to file with the Supreme Court saying that Texas should have to count all the Republicans in the Texas senate as 3/5 a person. Hell, at least that’s been done before.

Thanks to Larry for the heads up.

Years ago, retired Dallas Cowboys Quarterback turned Monday Night Football announcer, Don Meredith, would often sing “The Party’s Over” when a big NFL team had no hope of winning.  To wit:

Welp, I believe I can hear him singing even now.  The Supreme Court just denied to hear Paxton’s idiotic lawsuit to throw out millions of votes in 4 states, subvert democracy and install Trump as dictator.  Paxton, Abbott, Patrick, Cruz, and 17 US representatives from Texas sided with sedition rather than honoring their oaths of office.  SCOTUS said no. Alito, along with Thomas, dissented, of course.  Here’s the order:

Republican Rep. Dick Hinch was sworn in as the New Hampshire House Speaker on December 2.  One week later, Hinch was found dead in his home.  Cause of death?  COVID-19.  The swearing in was performed outdoors, but many Republicans present refused to social distance or wear masks.  Many Republicans in New Hampshire tend to be Libertarian, anti-government, and anti-science.  Democrats are calling for an investigation, and testing of all those present at the ceremony.  Even some Republicans are saying that behavior of many Republican representatives was “childish”.

Another one bites the dust.

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