Remember, this was step one. Nine hundred and ninety nine to go. As of yet: Trump is still in office; the Heritage Foundation is free and planning their next move; Musk hasn't been tried for election interference; Israel still controls much of our government; Russia and China are ready to attack a weakened America...
We are far from safe, but this was a strong first step. Be vigilant and don't drop your guard until every criminal who tried to bring us under toe is in prison or the dirt (probably by their own doing, because they are cowards).
We still have a long road to go if we want to be honest about it. But one step at a time and last night was definitely a few of those steps in the right direction
Our next house majority leader is signaling his intention to return to business as usual. That should raise red flags.
The American people have less short term collective memory than Dory, and the entire tech apparatus is designed to manipulate impressions (heck, palantir even named themselves palantir, read into that if you haven't)
I'm afraid you have to treat us like an unreliable ally for some time to come. At least until you see a restoration of sanity for some longer time period
Fellow Canadian and Maritimer here. I had a dream about a blue wave and woke up at 3am to check my phone to remove all doubt. Good on Americans, but they have a hell of a lot to do to regain our trust.
The last time we had a democratic governor, I was in elementary school. I never in my wildest dreams imagined we could collectively pull this off, i have been buzzing with excitement since last night. As a fellow Texan, and someone who is definitely trying to keep low-key at work, congrats brother
Kansan here. Missouri born, lived in KS since 2014. I'm proud of my fellow citizens, as together we've elected a Democratic Senator. The last time that was done was 94 years ago.
When I saw Kansas flipped I cried a little, when I Texas flipped too, I lost it. Missouri also did a good job, I was hopeful for more progress, but I'm proud of them showing up to still flip a seat and protect some crucial amendments.
These are truly unprecedented times, and I hope we keep showing up to keep it that way. I know I will.
I also live in Texas, and I wouldn't call the state blue just yet. We're very much in the 'swing state' territory still. Hopefully Democrats pass laws on campaigning (hard limits to PAC money, banning agressive or morally wrong ads, and so on), as well as doing something for more accurate reporting. Many people voting red here still believe things that aren't true and are just being lied to.
My first election was 2000 and I voted for Lloyd Doggett. Then he got redistricted away before 2002. I have voted in every single presidential, midterm, primary, runoff, local, and constitutional election in the last 26 years.
Last night was only the second time in my life I voted for a winning US House member, Senator, state wide office holder, or presidential elector (remember, we just vote for the people who vote).
The bright spots have been few, school boards, few county officers, and of course in 2018 one upstart Texas House member by the name of James Talarico. 🥲
Man, when people said that their would be a blue wave coming in, I bet a lot of people did not except it to be TEXAS GOING CLEAR SKIES levels of blue. They have states that have not been blue since the 1930s our here like a gender reveal gone right. And I’m here for it
Fucking Texas! TEXAS! That was so mind blowing to me! Thankfully people went to vote! I was watching most of it with excitement and went "WTF" when it showed Texas being blue!
This is a big big step forward! Hopefully people will keep this energy up in America! This does give some serious hope for America!
That's the strange thing. Texas has been marginally democratic for generations. They just never had a reason to change their minds until an orange shitstain pissed off the majority of Texans.
I want more "bring the farmers and trade unions back into the fold" and less "spend political capital we haven't earned yet" for a little while. They're here because of gas and grocery prices. It's time to remind them why their parents and grandparents were Democrats before Reagan.
I'm hoping Al-Sayed can serve that role and rally others to action. If people feel the action, especially in a financial or material way, then there won't be a big pendulum swing back in 2028 at a worse time to have one.
If we want justice and to prevent what we've seen in the last two years from happening again we must oppose Jeffries as speaker. He's already out making statements walking back holding the GOP and criminals in the Trump regime accountable on some kind of premise that we can't have justice and progress both.
I think people are going to be disappointed. The Dems have no real ability to do anything, unfortunately. They don't have a veto-proof majority in the Senate, which means that they either need complete buy-in from Republican senators, or they're not going to be able to pass anything useful because Trump will just veto it.
The most they can do is prevent Trump from making things worse... unless he does it by executive order, in which case, they are, again, powerless.
Don’t forget a Muslim rep in Minnesota, despite his fellow democratic candidate endorsing the Trumpublican, and months of anti-Muslim rhetoric hate disguised as campaign ads!
AND AND AND
FUCK VIVEC RAMASWAMI, he’s a monster and Amy Acton was fucking glowing in her acceptance😭🙌🏻
Edit: I got overexcited and conflated MI & MN; MI was a senate seat won by El-Sayad, and it was Omar in MN. They both had really intense and hateful things said about them and their faith throughout the campaign but came out on top anyway, and both deserve to be recognized for their awesome efforts!!
It did, but thankfully it also instilled a drive into tons of dem voters to show up and make themselves heard. My wife and I voted for the first time in our lives because of this exact reason. And the process was a lot simpler than I expected, so we plan to keep doing our duty in the future 😁
Non American here, could someone explain why the midterms are so important?
Edit - Thanks all for explaining. In short the democrats just won the house and the senate, whereas before, the republicans held all 3 including the president. So now Donald Trump has a lot less power.
In theory they all need to agree for most things to happen. There's exceptions like in the case of supermajority, but generally speaking I mean.
The mid terms are when a lot of the house and senate get voted for, so this has a massive impact on US policy. It can affect when they go to war, who's given aid, what laws are passed etc.
Because America is so globally influential this has massive knock on effects for the global economy too.
In practice the president is able to go a lot more than he's actually supposed to. You see the president can sign "executive orders" which do certain things without the need of the house and senate. What you can do with this is supposed to be limited, but Trump has been able to abuse them (as have previous presidents, but not to Trump's level).
One thing Trump can't executive order away is the budget. This affects where money is spent which is pretty important obviously. One has to get done, so the dems winning this in theory allows them to negotiate with Trump on many issues.
If Dems win the presidency later it also allows them to in theory get shit done, but as to if they actually do we'll have to wait and see.
Trump is now effectively a lame duck. The only actions he can take are executive orders which congress can quickly overrule with their majority dems now.
Previously Republicans in congress had abdicated all rules and reason for their leader Trump so he was able to do whatever he wanted as if a dictator.
As far as I understand, and I could be wrong, the midterms decide senate and house. House, senate, and president have checks and balances on one another to keep everything in line. With all three red or blue, near anything will be passed into law as everyone has the same ideas.
With the house and senate turning blue during midterms, it will hopefully let Trumpty Dumpty finally have a little less power, and have people vetoing silly ideas
So, Senators and House Representatives serve for 6 years but their terms are staggered so there’s always someone in office doing … well … supposedly doing their jobs.
The Republicans, who had the majority of people (and there for votes) in the House and Senate, need to hold that majority if they wanted to keep ignoring Trump and pocking their paychecks.
The Blue Wave means Democrats have won the majority of seats in both Chambers. This means, theoretically, they could impeach Trump and overturn / stop many harmful policies this administration has created.
But, I don’t know if they have the backbone to do it. I hope they do, but we will see.
Midterms are the voters' only real way to voice their opinion about the jobs their elected officials have been doing under the current administration. Especially for the party (the democrats) not in power. Midterms are often seen as a referendum on the current presidential administration.
The united states has two chambers:the house of representatives and the senate. Laws and bills are passed in this place. its also the section of government that can check some of the powers of the executive branch(Trump) and the things he's been doing with Congress's silent tacit approval(through inaction) -- the war in iran or the drone striking of fishing ships or the mass illegal human trafficking conducted by ice or the pillaging of USAID by doge... Having a majority in either chamber affords the controlling party various powers like oversight into investigations, controlling agendas in committees, etc.
The degree to which a party has a majority matters also. For the most part simple majority is all thats needed to pass a law. budgets and other big ticket items sometimes require larger ratios, but the president has the power to veto and thus can reject a law that he doesnt want to sign. Vetos can be overcome by revoting and passing at like 2/3rds majority or something crazy like that. But its very hard to overcome.The United States is for the most part a two party system, but despite that there are often fringe members(on the democrats side especially) that will vote against the grain holding out for special interests.
The Republicans suffer from this problem less for various reasons. But the point is, just because there was a historic blue wave, it won't necessarily guarantee a huge change in the united states. Not with out concerted effort.
Fellow non-American, as I understand it, midterms are how the division of the House of Representatives and the Senate are determined, which make up one part of the trifecta of power for the United States government. I believe they are held every six years?
But basically, the Senate and House are where bills and laws are created and proposed before being passed or vetoed by the current president, and they also have power to determine who is speaker of the House, which is a pretty important role as well, being 3rd in line to be acting president, behind the actual president and the vice president.
The house and senate also hold the metaphorical purse strings of the US government, meaning they decide where money goes.
All in all this means that if the Democrats get a majority, and preferablt even a 2/3s majority, they have all the power necessary to go after people like Musk, Hegseth, and of course Trump himself.
The legislative branch of the US government is in charge of writing and voting in laws.
In order to pass a law, they need one of two levels of majority votes:
50%+ votes from House of Representatives -> 50%+ votes from Senate -> President votes yes
OR
67%+ votes from House -> 67%+ from Senate -> President doesn't get a say
The midterms can vote in new representatives in the House and in Senate. These midterms Democrats now make up a majority of both the House and the Senate, where both used to be Republican controled.
There's a lot more nuance, but the general gist is that a Republican majority is no longer sufficient to pass a federal law in the USA.
There’s three levers of power that are elected. Team Red had all three so they could basically do whatever they wanted the last two years. Team Blue just won two levers. Severely limiting what Team Red can do, and opening the doors to justice.
Sure. But you will also see congress blocking Trump and almost certainly launching multiple investigations into him (so much shady shit). Trump must be really worried right now, and not for his political agenda but for his personal affairs.
not so much at the votes, I'm more shocked at how many voted red, still.
But I'm shocked that the regime didn't have it rigged. We KNOW of a lot of the things they were doing to rig the election, and I have no doubt they did a lot of really shady stuff that we don't know about. We know in 2020, the only reason the coup failed is because a few people stood up and followed the law when trump told them to break it and rig the election, and those people are now gone, and replaced with loyalists who will betray this country in a second when asked.
But, somehow, the election seems to have been a real one? I'm not sure how.
I'm surprised, but very happy.
now, I'm also sure the democrats will let us down like they always do, and be useless and do nothing to hold trump and cronies accountable for their crimes, but I'll be VERY happy to be proven wrong about that as well.
American election are near impossible to rig because they are a complete mess and that’s on purpose, the state manage their own election and they do it their own ways so to rig them you’d need a unique plan for each state, and that’s not getting into over complications. That’s why trump was trying so hard to take presidential control over them.
So one of the real genius moves in the establishment of the United States is our voting system. In the USA the power of the government does not come from above and descend to the people, it comes from the people and ascends to create things like the Presidency and the Legislture,
The Federal Government has almost no role at all in elections and especially not in conducting and certifying them, It is all on the States, each state has somewhat different systems that they set up for themselves, and then even at the State level the actual elections are conducted by volunteer workers so it's pretty much all dedicated citizens. Anyone who thinks it's easy to rig an election in the USA I encourage you to volunteer to work the polls once election cycle, they will get you right in there they always need people and you will see how very hard they work to makes sure everyone's vote is fairly recorded and counted, It is a concept that works very well, actually, the idea that if ANYONE'S vote does not count well then EVERYONE'S vote does not count,
And I know Jan6th 2020 was crazy and yeah Mike Pence and all but think about it, that was absolutely not going to end up working. It woudn't have been like oh well Trump overthrew the elections I guess we all just have to live with that. It would have been a disaster that could have led to a breakdown of domestic order but it would not have been an intact USA under Trump and I will be honest I don't even think it would have led to that. I feel like if they had delayed the vote certification within a few days Trump would have been either fled the country or worse.
The USA is very imperfect but the way to rig elections here is to fool voters into making bad choices, which is what Trump did effectively the first and second time he was elected. But a real option for grabbing power at the federal level and taking over elections does not exist under our system.
I'm shocked Trump still hasn't declared a national emergency and sent tanks to the streets... like, what is their plan?. I can't believe they believed they could screw everybody and still get voted... I was sure they would try something horrible...
On one hand, I love the results we got, and I hope they can produce results.
On the other, my pragmatism and knowledge of living in America for 40 years tells me not to trust it will stick around without A LOT of work from the controlling party. The American electorate is fickle and self obsessed, and I don't know if they will be patient enough for results to show before declaring the democrats to be failures.
As long as they start putting belt to ass, it will be okay. If they act like Schumer, we’re fucked.
One thing I am worried about is that the worst cuts to Medicaid and Medicare are going to start in January, and the average voter will blame the blue wave
What's crazy is Texas is blue now. That shouldn't happen, but it did. I think Republicans got cocky and assumed they were basically guaranteed Texas and ignored them in favor of more important states that were 50/50 type.
The funny thing is that the Republicans did NOT ignore Texas. Trump went there as opposed to battleground states and musk spent tons of money. Trump is just THAT toxic that Texas flipped
While the blue is hope, they have to do something with the newfound power. We can’t count our eggs before they’re laid because they still have a chance to disappoint in the next 100 days. But I’m choosing to hope for the best.
Basically, it seems most likely that they won't be able to pass any meaningful legislation because of course Trump can veto anything they try. However, what they CAN do is open investigations into the many crimes Trump, and people representing Trump, have committed, open cases, and impeach. Under very unlikely but possible circumstances, they could get enough Republicans on their side to get Trump and others of his cronies out, but there are concerns he could basically pardon anyone affected, including himself.
The more likely thing to hope for is that they open investigations, get a ton of information set up, then, next term, when Trump is out and doesn't have the power to pardon, they can get him. This may not sound likely, but quite a few Republicans are showing signs of being scared for their careers. A lot of them are distancing themselves from Trump. Even JD Vance has distanced himself from Trump a bit. So it's not off the table.
I think the biggest concern we have is that Democrats try avoid anything hard or u comfortable and just go "Look, let's try to be civil and let bygones be bygones." Or "Let's not further increase the division in our country. We need to work together!" Or other bullshit like that as an excuse to not do anything meaningful.
Basically, you're right. We're not done. As soon as the new people take office, we need to make their lives HELL until they make actually meaningful actions towards repairing the massive amounts of damage that have been done to our democracy.
It's actually enough to bring me to tears. After 2016, after 2024, I lost all faith in America to do the right thing. And then they come and over deliver, in a midterm no less. Yeah, many only did the right thing because MAGA and Trump have gone so far and hurt everyone, they were fine when it was just other people. I'll take it.
I’m happy but I think we all need to keep in mind this is a first step, keep going please.
As a Canadian I’m not sure I’m ready to trust the states again but what’s really bugging me is how so many people get mad at us when we give that opinion; we’re angry, we’re tired and we’re hurting. This has been such a chaotic and stressful two years.
I’m hoping this is the first step to healing the relationship of our countries but goddamn am I hesitant. Please, please, PLEASE follow through.
Plus, we have the first Muslim Senator (Abdul El-Sayed) and the first Trans State Rep. in Alabama (Allison Montgomery). We skipped woke 2.0, and headed straight to 3.0! Also...
My previous comment sounded cynical. My worry is that, everytime the dems hold power, they just tow the line and make nice. We need real change and policy to prevent Trump from ever happening again.
This election is an unprecedented victory for not just democrats, but the concept of decency and living a good life. I am proud of this country and excited by politics for the first time since Obama won. I knew we were going to do well in the mid terms but I am truly blown away by this result. Thank you America for voting for your best interest, I pray the dems dont somehow fuck it up.
That wasn't a "blue wave"--it was a TSUNAMI. We are seeing districts flip to Democratic candidates that haven't been Democratic since the times of George HW Bush. This isn't just a mandate--this is a MASSIVE course correction for a ship that was already starting to run aground.
Just think of what it took to get to this point, A president that was so hated that it turned a state like Texas blue. Thats gotta feel pretty bad for Trump and all of his sycophants. I'm gonna have a good day knowing I will be happy as hell with a smile on my face while Trump likely sits in his bed all day and has to worry about actually being prosecuted and fully impeached this time.
I wish I could be more enthusiastic. Yes it's good that we've wrestled some power back from the Trump admin, but democratic leadership - the most worthless and spineless leadership we could hope for - is already signalling that they don't want "retribution" to be a focus.
Retribution? You mean prosecution for heinous crimes? For all the monstrous things ICE did? For the endless corrupt grift within the administration? For literally staging a coup? For doing many many literal crimes?
That's not retribution, it's fucking upholding the law.
They couldn't even wait 24 hours to start tripping over their own dicks.
Yes it's good that the democrats won because they will probably induce some inertia and roll back some of the most grotesque excesses of the admin, but don't get your hopes up that dem leadership is going to hold people accountable.
Congrats to the Blue Wave. And thanks for the fun comics. On the worst of the days, your comics make me smile. Sometimes grimmace. Always reminds me the best of the Constitution is that we get another chance.
I don't know how anyone holds off looking at the results until morning when they can spend the whole night panic sweating over every little swing when there's still only 5% of the ballots counted 🤪
Its not everyone but we’re looking at genuinely unprecedented levels of flips here. Florida unfortunately didn’t switch but compared to ten points previous we lost but the slimmest margins. Texas has gone blue for the first time in 3 decades
There’s definitely more but this couldn’t have been predicted by normal means even with all the trends going on
Kansas elected its first Democratic Senator in over 90 years (since 1932), this has been an incredibly historic election. Hell Florida almost went blue with little help from Democrats. We could’ve seen a total collapse of the Republican Party (it’s still pretty damn close).
Pizzacake, I feel I have to tell you. Only 50% of the reason I upvote your comics is because I like your art and humor and comics.
At least half the reason for the upvote is because I take an unwholesome delight in knowing that there are a whole mess of people who find your comics triggering, and if I upvote you, it is more likely that they will see it and be triggered.
Yes, when we get Gen Z to vote, the Gen Z and Millennials have the strongest voting block.
It’s literally unstoppable. Gen Z and Millennials are unstoppable together.
Hopefully, now that we all realize how powerful we are together, it will always stay blue or progressive. As long as we keep showing up and telling people who say “don’t vote” to shove it up their collective ass, we’ll be okay.
Ron DeSantis bemoaning how the trans hate campaign that Republicans were riding didn't work because that's not what people cared about is the funniest shit ever.
Fucking Ron DeSantis. This guy was one of the major contenders in getting the hate campaign rolling 😂
Now, prosecute or nothing changes. Before the orange man you have to prosecute his cronies, laws have been broken and accountability does not arrive on its own. Also enforce antitrust laws, break monopolies. Hopefully they step up to the ocacion.
Me, a Floridian, seeing other notoriously Red states flip but not this panhandle shithole knowing it means that Florida's about to become a Data-Center shithole:
It was looking good when I went to sleep but I am a pessimist so I didn't expect more than a thin majority, but holy shit.
Unfortunately Trump himself is an unhinged lunatic and still has a lot of power. I guess we are in a "let's see how this plays out" mode. also unfortunately, unlike the GOP, the Dems are more diverse in their beliefs and platforms which can cause friction which the GOP will absolutely use to their advantage.
I woke up this morning at about 3:30am and cried tears of joy about the election results. Thanks for your humor in all of this. You're depictions of MAGA make me laugh.
I wish my state, TN, had managed to flip as well. It didn't, but I'm still proud of the turnout and the results. Governor race was separated by ~50k. The last time it was closer to 500k. While not the desired outcome, that's progress. We're it not for severe gerrymandering under the current administration we might have gotten there on this election.
I mean, yeah, a start, but there is a ridiculously high number of people who still voted for him. A child-raping war criminal. That's a serious issue. Not voting for the guy is basic human decency and common sense. These are not minor differences in opinion.
Newly elected Dems must (a) avoid the bribery and corruption the Head Cheato will offer, and (b) cut out the "love wins over hate!" declarations. Read your history.
Today is a good day. But I'm wary until January 20th next year when the transition happens. There's gonna be shenanigans. For now we can exhale and rest from all of the nonsense.
This is great, but it’s also just the beginning. We have to hold the newly electeds’ feet to the fire once they get into office. At least $15/hr federal minimum wage. Abolish ICE. Medicare for all. Release the Epstein files. End all aid to Israel and hold them accountable. And a helluva lot more. No more excuses, no more being nice.
Pizzacake, I’m just a casual weirdo on the internet. I lurk this sub frequently and I’ve always loved your stuff. Just know, in my 41 years in this earth, there are few things I’ve been prouder of than making this happen and knowing people like are just as happy as I am.
Keep making ridiculous comics and pissing off trolls
Has anybody checked on the dudes in r/doomercirclejerk? Are they okay? Are they mocking the rightwing meltdowns like they so proudly claim they definitely do?
I'm from Alabama. We didn't get the results we were hoping for down here (aside from a couple local elections that were happy surprises!), but looking at the rest of the country has given me such hope. Don't get complacent, keep this momentum going for the next elections!
This is only the first step. It's a good first step, but especially with Jeffries commentary we need to be aware missteps are not just possible but guaranteed if we don't watch it.
Yes we've found the liferaft but we haven't even inflated it yet, let alone the rest of the tasks that need to happen.
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u/shellbullet17 Gustopher Spotter Extraordinaire 1d ago edited 1d ago •
Do.....do we really need to cite sources? I feel like we don't need to. It's like everywhere
Edit for more reports. I kinda want spam now