Yesterday had plenty of bad news. For one, Trump is still president, and is still doing stupid things, and is still surrounded by boot-licking morons. And, unfortunately, school shooting season got off to a fast start. Buried in the gloom, there was a bit of good news.
No, really. To be a Democrat these days is like being Eeyore on beta blockers and valium. It’s hard to trust any good news, but we had some actual honest-to-God good news, out of Iowa, of all places.
Dems Break GOP Supermajority in Iowa Statehouse with 20-Point Swing in Trump District | Common Dreamshttps://www.commondreams.org/news/iowa-senate-special-election
— Servelan (@servelan.newsie.social.ap.brid.gy) 2025-08-27T16:53:09.000Z
So, Catelin Drey pulls off a big win and flips a seat, ending Iowa’s GOP supermajority. This confirms that people everywhere are indeed pissed about Trump, and not just my man here down in Missouri.
Constituent: You need to take your head out of Trump’s ass.
To be fair to Rep. Alford, it probably would be hard to get your head out of Trump’s giant ass, but I assume this gentleman was not speaking literally.
This special election result, recent polling, and angry people yelling at town halls do not add up to a very promising midterms for Trump’s MAGA GOP. There’s also the fact that the party not in the White House traditionally does very well in midterms. Of course, add to that Trump’s laser focus on doing a lot of things that are just not popular.
In normal times, the Democrats should be heartened. But as you have probably noticed, these are not normal times.
It is imperative that the Democrats figure out some way to protect the elections. It’s no longer a question of whether they will attack the right to vote, because they already are. The Texas gerrymander is just the beginning, and it’s hard not to imagine the stuff going on with federal troops in Los Angeles, DC, and soon Chicago as preparation for more of the same on election day. It’s also not hard to imagine ICE thugs intimidating people at polling places.
Not like they aren’t dropping hints.
Last week Trump said he likes the idea of starting a war so he can declare “no more elections” and stay in office forever.Today he just said “a lot of people” want “a dictator.”See where this is going?
— Brian Tyler Cohen (@briantylercohen.bsky.social) 2025-08-25T22:50:20.099Z
Along with protecting elections, it would help to run up the score against Republicans. Catelin Drey won in Iowa on affordability. There is a debate among the Democrats about whether it is better to talk more about “kitchen table issues” or Trump turning America into a despotism nightmare, but I think we can do both. The issues are not mutually exclusive, as an authoritarian dictator who only cares about himself will never have the working class/middle class’s best interests in mind.
But in the meantime, the Iowa special election is a great sign. Now this get to work on protecting elections so we can get many more wins like it.
The last word goes to Willie Nelson.