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Culture War Roundup for the week of December 1, 2025

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I hate to break this to you, but when judges order you to pay, they don't give a shit whether you actually have the money or not, and they aren't going to give you guidance on how to get it. You can be flat broke and ordered to pay a million dollars, and the court can do everything from seize bank accounts, foreclose on property, and garnish paychecks until hell freezes over. And government entities don't get some magical exemption from this. But that's all beside the point. He's arguing that he has the right to not spend money appropriated by congress, so maybe use that money? Or maybe just tell the Treasury Department to write a check; he's already got the Supreme Court decision saying he can't be charged with violating any laws that are part of his official duties. However he would have found it, the point is that he didn't spend the money because he didn't want to spend the money. A Democrat would have found a way to get the money. Do you seriously think a Democrat would have made the same excuse?

I suspect this kind of analysis would have predicted 10 of the last 5 Democratic victories.

At what point do I make any predictions? Last year I did and entire post on why I don't make predictions, and why I don't overthink the predictions I do make. That being said, you still have to heed certain warning signs, lest you find yourself whistling past the graveyard, and you still have to capitalize on advantages. I'm not predicting that the Democrats will win in the midterms. I'm saying that Republicans have x, y, and z weaknesses that they need to shore up if they want to have their best chance at winning, and Democrats need to push x,y, and z advantages if they want their best shot at winning. I you don't think that anything I've said is a problem, then fine. I'm some rando on the internet and it's your prerogative to ignore me. But I've made similar criticisms of the Democrats over the past 15 years and was assured by everyone in the bag for them that none of their woke bullshit would ever be a problem.