Quote of the Week...from a Wyoming Woman at a Trump Rally

I can't really say that anything he says is true, but I trust him.    ---Wyoming woman attending a recent rally by President Trump.

Well, the 2018 midterm elections are over and there are mixed results to muse upon.  For me as an American who is very distrustful of this current presidential administration, I am gratified that the House of Representatives has gone over to Democratic Party control...at least one part of our three branches of government will be able to act as a check on the executive branch, the way the framers of our Constitution had intended...don't look for any help from the Republicans in that regard.  It looks, however, as if the U.S. Senate will add as many as three seats to the Republican majority there, due in large part to the effect that Donald Trump had on the numerous states that were in play and which he chose to hold repeated rallies in.  His message was one of rage and fear: rage that Brett Kavanaugh had been treated unfairly in his confirmation process and fear that the caravan of asylum-seeking refugees currently traipsing through southern Mexico poses a grave threat to our national security.  Combining this with the bald-faced lie that Republicans were also for enforcing health insurance for those with pre-existing conditions...something that they have never done in Congress but which they actually repeatedly fought against...it all worked to convince enough dupes to give his candidates in Florida and Arizona razor-thin Senate victories while possibly tipping the balance in Texas.  On the other hand, in spite of Trump's extensive campaigning in Nevada and Montana, the Senate races in both states went Democratic.  And then again, millions upon millions of Americans...like the woman espousing the above quote...don't care whether or not Trump is lying to them since they idolize him.  There is definitely a very, very creepy cult of personality surrounding this president, and although I am disappointed at the Senate losses I am at least grateful that he won't be able to run roughshod all over this country to the extent that he has for his first two years.  Even with as many as three additional seats to their side, the Senate Republicans won't be able to do any more than they've already been doing...after all, they just confirmed a very controversial Trump Supreme Court nominee by a 50-48 vote. And for at least a couple of years we won't be seeing awful legislation rammed through the House and Senate...anything that makes it to the President's desk for his signature (or veto) will need to have a bipartisan consensus of support.  One potentially big problem: the "old" Republican-controlled House of Representatives still has nearly two months to do mischief before the new one is sworn in at the beginning of next year...don't be surprised if Trump and his cohorts try to slip some really bad stuff through during this lame duck period. And only a day after the elections the President fired his attorney general Jeff Sessions, against whom he has carried an irrational grudge for properly recusing himself from investigating Russia's role in the 2016 campaign, and replaced him with a political loyalist who has openly been highly critical of the Mueller investigation...

Now I'm seeing that there's a big brouhaha here in Florida about the Senate race between Rick Scott and Bill Nelson, in which the Republican governor is currently holding a 15,000 vote lead.  The Republicans are alleging election fraud and Scott has filed suit...looks like there will be a recount.  As for me, I wanted Nelson to win and retain his Senate seat, but I think he truly lost the election and Scott should replace him in January...

BUT WAIT, I spoke too soon! Apparently, in Arizona the slow vote-counting has switched the lead from Republican to Democrat in that state's US Senate race.  Maybe I should reconsider what's going on in Florida, too...is the counting still going on there as well?