DEMOCRACY, IRAN, and STEPHEN MILLER

Changed the title of my posting today several times.  

• Why Democracy?  Still celebrating the recovery of the USA on November 3.  
• Why Iran?  Looks like they "won" their war against the USA and Israel.
• One fallout from the midterms is that President Donald Trump will be stuck with a Democratic Congress that will force him to end this war.

• 
  Netanyahu is in big trouble.
• Polymarket has Gadi Eisenkot at 62.7% to become the next prime minister of Israel.
• Kalshi has Eisenkot at 49%,  with NO ONE 37% and Netanyahu 8%.

Then there is Stephen Miller, who on Monday will become the new Chief of Staff to President Donald Trump:

• Miller, only 41 years old, is Trump's attack bulldog.
• He represents the epitome of cruelty in the White House, even more so than Trump.

• 
  “Stephen Miller is a dangerous xenophobe and reckless extremist who has American blood on his hands,” tweeted top House Democrat Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY).
• He is why ICE is so hated.
• So if the President wanted to make peace and work with the incoming Democratic Congress, forget about that.

• 
  Miller.
• Was born in Santa Monica, California, and is of Ashkenazi Jewish descent.  His family escaped Russian pogroms and the Holocaust.
• Graduated from Duke University.
• Has disparaged Marco Rubio.
• 
  At Steve Bannon's behest, began writing speeches for Trump in 2016.  Wrote Trump's first inaugural address.  Drafted the letter firing FBI Director James Comey.
• Captained the White House assault on Harvard and Columbia.

• 
  Is far-right and anti-immigration.  A white-nationalist and libertarian.
• Urged invading and occupying Greenland.
• Strong supporter of Israel.
• In 2020 married Katie Waldman, then press secretary to Veep Mike Pence.  Trump attended wedding.  Has four children.
• The current administration moved his family to officers quarters on a nearby military base.
• Trump calls him Weird Stephen.

So why did Trump choose Miller for this pivotal role?

• He is shorter than Trump and bald.
• Here is an early video of why.
• And another.

My Saturday postings have tended to be about entertainment doings.  Happy days are what I emphasize.  In a way, this is what I am doing today, but with a focus on politics.

• About that lame duck session from November 9 to December 25.
• Congress left DC without finishing up government funding, including the annual defense and farm bills.  So they need to do that.

• 
  There is that December 11 date when Federal funding runs out.  Interesting to see what happens.
• Maybe here is where Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gets impeached.  Then Trump can quickly replace him with a still Republican-controlled Congress.

• 
  About the upcoming 120th Congress, which convenes on 3January2027.
• All signs look good for historic Democratic dominance.
• The Senate will be at 54 Democrats to 44 Republicans, until post-election counts finalize the tally.
• This final Senate count will probably be 56 Democrats and 44 Republicans, with a 12-seat cushion for Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.  Why?

• 
  Betting sites have both Mississippi and Alaska senate races going to Democrats.
• Betting sites?  Yes.
• People don't bet on a 99% winner unless there is certainty.
• These people who place money on something like this do so because there is an overwhelming reason.
• They know where the votes will go from the counting of post-election ballots.

• 
  Both Kalshi and Polymarket have Alaska Democrat Mary Peltola and Mississippi Democrat Scott Colom between 94%-99%.

• 
  From NBC, the final House count will probably be 259 Democrats and 176 Republicans, or an 83-seat majority.
• Kalshi has Chuck Schumer as Majority Leader at 90% and Polymarket at 86.  Chris Van Hollen trades between 7-9%, but he has publicly ruled out any interest.

• 
  Presidential candidates on 7November2028 (average of Kalshi and Polymarket)
• John Ossoff 23%
• JD Vance  14%
• Marco Rubio  11.5%
• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez  10.5%
• Gavin Newson  8.2%
• Ron DeSantis  6.3%
• Andy Beshear  3.5%
• Kamala Harris  3.4%
• James Talarico  3.0%
• Donald Trump  1.7%.....yes, DONALD TRUMP.
• Both Kalshi and Polymarket predict a total Democratic sweep of the White House, House and Senate in the 2028 election.

• 
  Project 2027
• Created in December of 2025.
• Rather than retribution, the lead effort will be to enhance those social matters relating to affordability, healthcare, consumer protection (tariffs?) and civil liberties, including investigations dealing with corruption, national security, AI/data centers and so forth.

• 
  The new Democratic Congress will focus on accountability and affordability, not revenge.
• Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, chaired by Robert Garcia of California, will, with House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jamie Raskin of Maryland, prioritize targets of opportunities.  These targets will include:

• 
  Donald Trump, his family and links.
• Secretaries of Defense Pete Hegseth. Health Robert F. Kennedy, and Education Linda McMahon.
• Attorney General Todd Blanche will get special attention later in the 120th Congress.  If this hasn't happened yet, Democrats will want to air out the Epstein matter heading into the 2028 elections.

• 
  On the matter of impeachment.
• The House initiates the charge, only needing a majority vote to impeach someone.
• The Senate tries the case, but needs a two-thirds vote to convict and remove the individual from office.  Or 67 votes.  The Chief Justice of the U.S. presides.
• Three U.S. Presidents presidents have been impeached by the House and acquitted by the Senate:  Andrew Johnson (1868), Bill Clinton (1998) and Donald Trump (twice, in 2019 and 2021).
• Richard Nixon resigned before the House acted.
• Impeachments of cabinet officers are rare.
• 
  In any case Defense Secretary Pete Hegsmeth is in danger of losing his office.  He seems to be the scapegoat for the Iran War.
• Maybe by just resigning soon to allow President Trump to get a better Defense secretary for him during the lame duck session.
• Chances are that Hegseth, Kennedy and McMahon will not be impeached.  There are more important priorities for the incoming Congress.

Heck of a great list of NCAA football games today (all Eastern time):

• noon         #9 BYU (7-1) at #3 Utah (8-0) on ABC
• noon         #7 Texas (6-2) at #18 Missouri (6-2) on ESPN
• noon         #8 UCLA (8-0) at Minnesota (   on Fox
• 3:30PM    #5 Alabama at LSU on ABC
• 3:30PM    #23 Oregon at Ohio State on CBS
• 6:15PM    #6 Kentucky at Tennessee on ESPN
• 7:30PM    #1 Miami (8-0) at #11 Notre Dame (7-1) on NBC
• 7:30PM    #2 Georgia at Mississippi on ABC
• 9:30PM    #103 Hawaii (2-6) at #136 University of Texas at El Paso (1-7) on FS1

Yes, Hawaii has not had a good year, but won their last game at the University of Northern Illinois.  But UNI's record for the year is 0-8.  Yet, if Hawaii beats UTEP today, and upsets North Dakota State University next week, they have a shot at winning their final two games to be eligible for a bowl bid!  There are 36 bowl games this year, plus the 11 College Football Playoff Games.

I might add that the University of Hawaii basketball team beat Bethesda last night 116-44, and is undefeated this year.  Who is Bethesda?  Don't ask.

To close, there is a tropical storm a few hundred miles south of Honolulu.  It will be Hurricane Pena by Wednesday, but the predictive path is westward.

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