November 9, 2022

Vol. 11, No. 1852

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The Long Count: Control of the House and Senate are still undecided this morning as the Republican Party failed to deliver a “Red Wave” across the country.

  At publication time, the Democrats have 48 seats in the Senate and the Republicans, 47. The Republicans need 51 to take control.

  In the House, Democrats have 172, Republicans 197. Either party needs 218 for control.

  As the vote count continues it’s clear that the endorsing hand of Donald Trump did not perform magic. Georgia’s Republican Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan said this morning on CNN, “This is a pivot point for the Republican Party. This is a time that Donald Trump is no doubt in the rear view mirror.” He said, “I think Donald Trump’s moving from a movement to a distraction for the Republican Party now.”

  In the critical Georgia Senate Race, Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker appear to be headed to a runoff vote next month after neither failed to take 50 percent of the vote.

  Democrat John Fetterman beat the Republican carpetbagger, Dr. Mehmet Oz, for the Senate seat from Pennsylvania. Republican JD Vance, who wrote the bestselling memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” won the Senate seat in Ohio. 

  Not enough votes have been counted to call the races for Senate, governor, and secretary of state in Arizona. All the Republican candidates in those races are election deniers who claim Donald Trump was cheated out of the presidency in 2020.

  In Colorado’s 3^rd House District, the gun totin’ election-denying Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert is trailing her Democratic opponent. In Georgia’s 14^th, Marjorie Taylor Greene has comfortably held her seat.

  In Massachusetts,  Democrat Maura Healy will be the first woman, and first openly gay woman, to serve as governor.

  New York’s Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul defended her title against Republican Lee Zeldin, who has so far refused to concede.  In Michigan, the Trump-endorsed Tudor Dixon, came up short in her bid to unseat Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

Trump World: As he prepares to announce a third run for president, Donald Trump this week threatened to release dirt on his likely Republican opponent, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. “If he did run, I will tell you things about him that won’t be very flattering,” Trump told the Wall Street Journal. “I know more about him than anybody other than perhaps his wife, who is really running his campaign.”

  In an earlier interview with Fox News, Trump  warned DeSantis not to run, in in 2024, saying, “I don’t know if he is running. I think if he runs, he could hurt himself very badly. I really believe he could hurt himself badly.” 

  DeSantis has been obviously positioning himself to attract Trump voters in 2024 without being Trump. But Trump said, “I think he would be making a mistake, I think the base would not like it — I don’t think it would be good for the party.”

The War Room: Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said last night that as the fighting against Russia continues, “We are moving towards the return of the Ukrainian flag to all our cities and communities.” 

  He said electricity crews are working to restore power, but as many as 4 million Ukrainians are periodically without electricity. “We clearly understand; turning winter into a weapon is the plan of a terrorist state against our state, as well as against the whole of Europe,” he said. 

  Zelensky has laid out stiff terms for talks with Russia that make it unlikely Russia will engage. Zelensky wants restoration of his country’s territorial integrity, compensation for the billions of dollars’ worth of damage to the country, and prosecution of Russians for war crimes.

  He gave no room for Russia to declare victory in defeat.

  Zelensky, in his Monday night address, said that Ukraine had “repeatedly proposed” peace talks, only to have Russia respond “with new terrorist attacks, shelling or blackmail.”

Getting Warmer: A draft of the National Climate Assessment  due out late next year ominously says that, “The things Americans value most are at risk.” 

  The climate assessment is issued every four years. The nearly 1,700 page report says “More intense extreme events and long-term climate changes make it harder to maintain safe homes and healthy families, reliable public services, a sustainable economy, thriving ecosystems and strong communities.”

  Increasing greenhouse gas emissions and warming of the planet mean that the US could face major disruptions to farms and fisheries, driving up food prices, the report says. And it projects that millions of Americans could be displaced by disasters such as severe wildfires in the West, sea-level rise in Florida, or flooding in Texas.

Unfriended: Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, laid off 11,000 employees and extended a hiring freeze through the first quarter of next year. At the end of September, Meta had 87,314 employees. After buying up companies, growing too quickly during the pandemic, and moving to expand into the fully digital world of the so-called “metaverse,” Meta has been losing money.

The Spin Rack: The $2 billion winning Powerball Lottery ticket was sold at Joe’s Service Center in Altadena, a gas station just north of Pasadena, California. Joseph Chahayed, the owner of the gas station, gets a million for selling the ticket. — Tropical Storm Nicole is gathering strength in the Atlantic and is expected to become a hurricane by the time it hits Florida sometime after midnight. It is a rare November storm. — American basketball star Britney Griner, who was convicted of bringing a small amount of cannabis oil into Russia, has been sent to a penal colony.

Below the Fold:  After some glitches in the counting machines that didn’t affect the actual vote, Arizona Republicans were quick to claim election fraud. Kari Lake, the former news anchor trailing against a Democrat, took the stage to spew about “Corruption.” “Cheaters and crooks.” “BS and garbage.” “Incompetent people running the show in Arizona.” “Propagandists.” “Fake media.” And “Incompetency.”

  She went home by 10 pm.

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