IT’S MY THURSDAY ESSAY FOR VIP SUBSCRIBERS: So That Happened. “The polls were not wrong, gentle reader. If anything, they overestimated the GOP’s chances literally everywhere. The red flags waved all over the place, but the reddest and waving-ist was seen three weeks ago in one of the most reliably conservative districts in one of the most reliably Republican states.”

Much, much more at the link.

SURE, WHY NOT? Pete Hegseth for President.

They say everything moves faster in the age of the Internet, and that’s certainly true of Hegseth. He hasn’t even begun campaigning, and already the impeachment hearings have been scheduled for him!

SO CALIFORNIA HASN’T GONE COMPLETELY SUICIDAL… YET: California’s Billionaires Exhale as Prop 40 Goes Down.

Several Democratic state leaders campaigned against it. Gov. Gavin Newsom opposed it, as did Xavier Becerra, who cruised to victory over Republican Steve Hilton Tuesday night, and former Rep. Katie Porter, warning it would drive wealthy residents and their tax payments out of California.

In June, the day after Prop 40 qualified for the ballot, Newsom proposed a national “billionaires’ tax” instead: a federal minimum tax on Americans worth more than $100 million, new rules on inheritance, and a national public equity fund that would give Americans a stake in AI-driven wealth.

A Newsom spokesperson told ABC News last month that the governor supports a national tax on billionaires and proudly joined teachers, firefighters, reproductive health clinics, and others in opposing what the statement called a “poorly written state measure that will harm California.”

Clearly, Newsom only opposed the tax because he couldn’t build a Berlin Wall around the state to keep the billionaires in.

SELLING OUT FOR FUN AND PROFIT:

Related:

DISPATCHES FROM SCHRĂ–DINGER’S AYATOLLAH:

Whether or not Khamenei is still alive, his collapse was certainly accelerated this year: Mojtaba Khamenei Is (Still) Dead.

HIS WAS WAY BETTER THAN MINE IN CO IN 12, BUT I NOTICE HE SEES WHAT I SEE:  Election Work?

A note, though, I love William Lehman, but the democrats already said the filibuster is dead when they come in, so you know what? Yeah. Do what you have to do in dead duck session to keep us from dying under what’s coming.

I CAN’T BELIEVE IT’S NOT FRAUD. STOP THE CIRCULAR FIRING SQUAD. IT IS FRAUD:  James Talarico got more ‘votes’ than any Democrat candidate has EVER gotten in Texas history. He got 500,000 more ‘votes’ than Kamala Harris got two years ago in a Presidential election year. The demographics of Texas have not changed significantly in two years. You can talk about gas prices, or Iran, or Trump’s personality until the cows come home, this still seems … odd, to say the least.

Again and again I say to you, no way the left outperformed polls. Have you ever met a lefty that didn’t tell everyone his or her opinion, loudly? At the top of his/her voice? Not believable. I believe in unicorns more.

OF COURSE NOT, ONLY ONE PARTY IS CAPABLE OF RACIAL MILESTONES.