While it was not a big surprise for Democrats to flip both houses of Congress, what happened yesterday was still in many ways historic, and most importantly, will go a long way to preserve American Democracy. First of all, I've never before in my life ever watched the results of any midterm election.  Yesterday I was glued to my TV set, from 11AM Hawaii time to 10PM ( which was 3AM ET ).  The attraction for me to watch so long was the building euphoria of a Blue American Tsunami. From Newsweek : While midterm elections typically favor the party out of power, the scale of this year’s result points to a broader rejection of the Republican administratio n. Since 1946, the party controlling the White House has lost House seats in 18 of 20 midterms, with an average loss of about 26 seats.  On the other hand: The milestone potentially sets up a new political dynamic in Washington. A President has not had to deal with a Congress completely controlled by the opposition party si...

Well, with incredible swiftness yesterday,  both houses of the U.S. Congress passed that controversial Epstein file release legislation . The House vote was 427 to 1.  Louisiana Republican Representative Clay Higgins cited his concern about innocent people being hurt. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer brought up the bill on the floor of the Senate under a procedure called unanimous consent.  He had checked with the Republican party about this process, which allows no debate and no amendments, got concurrence and succeeded.  There was no congressional vote, so no one in the midterm election will get tainted. This measure is now on President Donald Trump's desk, and he has said he will sign it. The bill requires Attorney General Pam Bondi to release “all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials” related to Epstein and his co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell no later than 30 days after the law is enacted.   T he bill gives Bondi th...

  Before butter and alcohol, a couple of news items: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said he won't block the Republican funding bill , incurring the wrath of other Democratic leaders.  Trump's spending bill subsequently passed today .  Major storm with potential for baseball-size hail and tornadoes are expected today for Missouri and Illinois, also the South to Wisconsin. Mark Carney was sworn in as  Canada's new prime minister .   He will call for a general election in the coming weeks, but this will not affect his leadership, as the governing Liberal Party will still remain in control. Canada's political system is like the UK.  A constitutional monarchy recognizing the Queen/King as the head of state, with the Prime Minister as head of government.   They have a Parliament.  Their Senate has 105 seats appointed by someone called the Governor General, who represents King Charles.  The House of Commons has 338 members elected b...