Not Dead Yet

 And... we're back! 

Dave-El here with I'm So Glad My Suffering Amuses You, a blog of indeterminate purpose and, of late, erratic schedule.

Sorry about that.

Hey guys, you get what you pay for,

Anyway, it's Monday which means we deal with politics.

Sorry about that.

So anyway...

Prior to last Tuesday, it did seem like the Democratic Party was dead.

What with the autocratic Republican Trump plague running about and all.  

Then Tuesday November 4th came 'round and it was time for a GAME CHANGER!

The only way to learn is by playing. 

The only way to win is by learning. 

And the only way to begin is by beginning.

Yep, it was one whacking great kick up the backside for Donald Trump and the MAGA movement.  

Zohran Mamdani won his race to become the next mayor of New York City despite efforts by Li'l Donnie and his MAGA sycophants to demonize him by translating "Socialist Democrat" into  "Communist" as well as "Muslim" into "Anti-Semetic Terrorist".   

Mamdani ran on the very real platform that NYC is too expensive to live in and work in and wouldn't it be nice to actually do something about that.  Not being a billionaire with billionaire friends lent some credence to his populist rhetoric.

As opposed to say Donald Trump whose whole "working for the common man" pitch is undone by his gold  plating every inch of the goddam White House, his passion project for a $300 million ballroom "the common man" will never fucking get to use and Trump's lack of understanding of how buying groceries work.

Last week he repeated his assertion that you need to provide an I.D. to buy bread. 

He also insists that the price of groceries is going DOWN, not UP.  Despite the very real and incontrovertible FACT that grocery prices are going UP.

And also Trump's refusal to use legally mandated emergency funds to fund SNAP benefits during the government shutdown. 

Well, "the common man" should know there's a big beautiful ballroom coming, well, he should shut up about the affordability of groceries.

Trump last week specifically said he didn't want to hear anymore about "affordability" because it's not a real issue. Everyone knows grocery prices are DOWN, not UP. 

Meanwhile, back to Tuesday...

Democrats won their elections for governor of Virginia and New Jersey and they were both women. Which you know just royally pisses off Donald Trump. JD Vance, Stephen Miller, etc etc. 

FUN FACT: Abigail Spanberger (VA) and Mikie Sherrill (NJ) were once roommates. Isn't it wild that two women who happened to share an apartment once went on to both become governors on the same election day? 

Republicans made light of these wins claiming they were in blue states where Democrats were expected to win and had nothing to do with Republicans or Trump. 

FUN FACT: Both New Jersey and Virginia have had Republican governors. 

ANOTHER FUN FACT: exit polling showed a majority of voters who voted for Spanberger and Sherill expressed a total repudiation of Donald Trump's policies. 

Meanwhile the federal government shut down continues as the Democrats hold firm on their demand for continuation of tax credits for the Affordable Care Act to keep premiums from escalating.

(By the time this posts, it is possible some moderate Democrats may cave and vote for the budget without any concessions on health care. Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.)  

Since it is now the time frame for people who get their health insurance through ACA to renew their coverage for the upcoming year and sure enough, premiums are indeed increasing by large amounts from hundreds to thousands of dollars.

Meanwhile, Republicans refuse to extend those tax credits because many of them never liked the ACA in the first place  and their lord and master Trump orders them not to work with the Democrats in any way whatsoever.

Even though Republican constituents make up most of those impacted by increasing premiums for ACA plans.

Margorie Taylor Greene gets it. Her constituents are facing increases in their health insurance premiums and she thinks that's wrong.   

WIERD FACT: In the last few weeks, Margorie Taylor Greene has been saying stuff that well... makes sense.

What is happening in the world right now that MTG is making sense?

Anyway...

What was my point when I started this post?

Oh, yeah. It appears that democracy is not dead yet.

That is the good news.

The bad news is that Donald Trump and his minions are still trying to kill it.

We're nowhere done with this shit yet.