What Now?

The new Congress will be sworn in on January 3, 2027. That is, of course, when the Democratic majority takes charge on capitol hill. But what will the next couple of months look like?

Of course, in the White House the game of "pin the blame on the donkey," or in this case the elephant, began almost immediately after the giant blue meteor killed most of the dinosaurs. Trump wasn't on the ballot, Republicans didn't show up, all were trotted out as excuses. But finally, the spinning bottle pointed at the President's Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.

Wiles, who by the way is the daughter of famous sportscaster Pat Summerall, was considered one of the few level heads in the vicinity of the Oval Office, but now for some unknown reason, she is being blamed for the blue wave. The only way you could hold her responsible is if she failed to tell the President that complimenting men's behinds is not a great strategy, and closing out the campaign with a meandering paean to the refurbished reflecting pool might be a bit off-message.

In that solemn address, for which America was breathlessly waiting as they pumped $4 gas, he actually said that an average of 3 people a week died in the reflecting pool. No, really, 3 people.

The pool is 2.5 feet deep. A Munchkin from Oz would only be knee deep. I'm sure that was Susie's fault, though.

So, to replace Ms. Wiles, the President has promoted his top advisor, the Temu version of Joseph Goebbels, Stephen Miller to the job.

Miller has been in charge of general pettiness in the administration, particularly of the Mexican kind and now he'll be at the President's side to ratchet up the efforts.

Word is he may move the coffin he sleeps in to the Oval for convenience.

So, expect a "no more, though we never were, Mr. Nice Guy" attitude from ICE agents, at least while they can get away with it. And as a thank-you gift, we Texans might see more border wall in the Big Bend.

Oh, and as for the President's warm feelings for Vladimir Putin, Stephen is hip to it. Here are his kids on Halloween...

The President's "Triumphal Arch" has been rebranded a some sort of military tribute thing, but a judge still thankfully said no to his version of the Brandenburg Gate. Another judge said no to any more tree cutting at the capital golf course but the Kennedy Center will still honor some properly conservative artists this year.

No, wait.

It will actually be held at the Capital One Arena, so true to form, the honor comes not from the Kennedy legacy, but from a bank. The Kennedy Center will remain closed until the building comes to it's senses and honors a real President.

My understanding is though, that the honorees will all get a Capital One card, so if you're Paul Anka, the evening isn't a total loss.

And Saturday, the President announced he had offered the job of Press Secretary to Dana White, President of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. You know, the guy who put on the cage match on the White House lawn on the 4th of July? All we need now is a couch on the front porch and an old Buick up on blocks in the front yard to make J.D. Vance feel downright nostalgic.

But the real question is, what about Iran and that war, or military excursion or whatever they are calling it so you won't think it's actually a war? Well, even though we have declared victory roughly 23 times so far, we may start it up again. And that short bus font of political analysis, Tucker Carlson, has an insider tip.

He pursed his non-existent lips and blurted out that he's heard the President is considering using nukes on Iran.

Gosh, if only there were some way to keep nukes out of the Middle East. Let's get Kushner and Whitkoff on that, stat.

Meanwhile, the lame duck Congress has some big items to deal with in this 2-month period. The most urgent deadline is December 11, 2026, when the current stopgap spending measure expires. Congress must pass a new funding bill to avert a government shutdown over the holidays.

Republicans want a long-term bill, and Democrats a short one. That, of course, means a shutdown. That is how a functioning democracy works these days.

I'm sure Chuck Schumer and Susan Collins will co-author a stern letter.

In Texas, by the way, since there will be a new Democratic Governor, House of Representatives and Lieutenant Governor, Republican senators are figuring out how to strip the new Lt. Governor of the powers exercised by the execrable Dan Patrick.

And it's these kinds of political games that voters last Tuesday showed they love so much. Keep it up, guys!

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