I expected a blue wave last Tuesday BUT I didn’t expect a blue tsunami. I’m still bruised from pinching myself. I’ve never been so happy about being black and blue, figuratively, not literally.

I’m not writing about British politics today, so why the featured image of the London Underground’s legendary Mind The Gap logo? In American politics, we’re facing several gaps and need to learn how to deal with them. We don’t want to get fried on the third rail, after all:

The first gap involves the lame duck period in Congress. Like my colleague Cassandra, I’ve never been particularly worried about the January 3rd House swearing-in thing, but lesser forms of MAGA mischief are possible. I am, however, concerned about people to my left who think ousting Hakeem Jeffries as the next Speaker of the House is a good idea.

Before endorsing the Hegseth impeachment, Jeffries said some silly shit about legislating, not investigating, but anyone who knows anything about the House knows that he can’t thwart Robert Garcia and Jamie Raskin’s investigatory zeal. They’re the powerful incoming chairs of the Oversight and Judiciary committees respectively and both have national reputations. Garcia and Raskin have said that we can walk and chew gum at the same time, y’all. Let’s commence walking, I’ll skip the gum chewing. I only like it as a metaphor.

Black voters, especially in the South and particularly in Texas and Georgia, were the driving force behind the blue tsunami. Trying to oust the man who will be the  first Black speaker in American history is a fool’s errand. Jeffries is well-liked and respected in his caucus, so he’ll be the 57th Speaker of the House. Besides, nobody is running against him thus far. That’s the case in the senate as well: There’s grumbling about Chuck Schumer but you can’t beat somebody with nobody.

 

The more ominous gap is this one:

The countdown meme looked too crowded with presidential added, but that’s the election in question. There are 804 days left in the Trump presidency and the election leaves him weakened but in denial. How else can you explain promoting the white nationalist architect of Team MAGA’s immigration policy, Stephen Miller, to chief of staff. It’s unclear if it will change much since as deputy chief of staff Miller was more powerful than the hapless Susie Wiles. What’s Trumpier than blaming a woman for the defeat?

Doubling down on malevolent MAGA malakatude is moronic but what can you expect from an idiot with a dominance fetish? It’s another sign that the Kaiser of Chaos only cares about himself and not his party. As a Democrat I find this delightful but as an American I find it frightful. We haven’t battled authoritarianism to end up with a one-party state. I want MAGA destroyed, but we need a responsible center-right party.

The Insult Comedian, of course, has never taken responsibility for anything in his life. He blames everyone but himself for the wipe-out but he’s the one who foisted Ken Paxton, Darline Graham, Michael Whatley, and Vivek Ramaswamy among other terrible candidates on the GOP. Thanks, Donald.

Trump is the lamest of lame ducks but he’s also a cornered rabid beast who must be watched. He’ll lash out periodically but project dictator is as dead as Adolf Hitler. Trump is in his Downfall phase. That’s the German movie about Hitler’s final days in his bunker. He wanted what was left of Germany, after years of bombing, burned to the ground. Some of his cronies resisted his arsonist tendencies. Who, if anyone, in the GOP will stand up to the failed king? That was a rhetorical question, we know the answer is no until proven otherwise. It’s up to federal judges and, more importantly, the people.

Repeat after me: Mind the gap.

None of the songs titled Mind The Gap appeals to me, so the last word goes to Louis Armstrong: