533 Comments

I love that your 2 major stories were Finland and Wisconsin. And “in other news” was TFG’s arrest.

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I chuckled…..my thoughts exactly!!!! Waiting for the day the Orange Overcomb is just a footnote…. Hooray for Finland and the election results in Wisconsin!!!

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And the results in Chicago. Power to public schools, the backbone of democracy! Brandon Johnson’s election has the potential to save a major American city

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Maybe the hated "lets go Brandon can be used in a good way in Chicago

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Funny you should write that! Ever since the beginning of the mayoral race how to make “Brandon good again” has been playing around in the back of my head. Thank you, William Whitman. (Are you kin to Walt?)

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Potential

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Dear Virginia, you could not be more wrong. Mr. Johnson's election spells peril for a once great city. Mr. Johnson is bought and paid for by the Chicago Teachers Union. Have you studied or even looked into this organization's during Covid. Students were irreparably left behind. Mr. Johnson has never run any organization let alone a city with Chicago's complexities. He has said he will defund the police in a city rife with crime. He hopes to raise taxes a great amount in a city that already imposes heavy tax burdens on its citizens. Corporations are likely to continue to leave the City. The question is: What has Chicago done? Have a good day.

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Dear Mike Davis, I wrote you a lengthy reply, but neglected to put your name on it. Perhaps it will appear elsewhere.

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You do realize that "Defund the Police" means taking social services OUT of Police duties, right? Also, our poor teachers (including school boards) were in a horrible position - keep children and employees safe and still present lessons. This was new and uncharted areas. Hindsight, they could've been better. In the mean time you can blame Betsy DeVoss and Trump for the failures. I personally can add DeSantis.

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Hi Valerie. Thank you for your comment which although condescending in its first sentence is at least civil. "Defund the Police, " as you know, is a slogan that has many meanings and is used for a variety of purposes. For many, it is code. We are better off if I leave it there.

Chicago schools did a terrible job during Covid. Just terrible. And Chicago public school students have been irreparably hurt. Compare Chicago public schools to City private or parochial schools. Somehow they figured it out. They managed to provide in-school instruction safe for student and teacher. And parochial schools have a fraction of the resources that Chicago's public schools have.

Many instructors struggle, sadly, and many qualify for your empathetic statement "our poor teachers." Not here in Chicago. Among the 50 largest districts in the U. S., CPS teachers' pay ranks No. 1 for teachers with a bachelor's degree and five years' experience, No. 2 for first-year teachers with a bachelor's degree. and No 3 for first year teachers with a master's degree. And what did and do Chicago's public students get from all of this funding? Fewer than 30% of CPS students can read at grade level, yet 100% of teachers are rated Excellent or Proficient. How does this happen? And it is easy to blame DeVoss and Trump, who I despise, but they, as you know, are not the fundamental cause for Chicago's public-school failures. Thanks much. Have a great day.

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"Overcomb"? Delicious, Barbara!

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Jon Margolis, I received your reply via email but it won't process onto this page. Here's what you said: "I can hear the Mango Mussolini channeling Pete Seeger: 'We shall overcomb, We shall overcomb…'” to which I reply: LOL!

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It's beginning to look a lot like a large rusty piece of Brillo.

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Bill, you made me laugh!!! Sooooo true. Thanks!

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Rusty Brillo. I LIKE that name for T****. Thank you, Bill.

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When dumpster goes to prison (hopefully ) who will do his hair and makeup? Does his own "artists " have access to him or what ! Inquiring minds want to know !!😅🤣😂

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I don't think his "artists" will be able to serve him while he's in the hoosegow, even if it's one of those white-collar resort prisons.

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In need of a dye job!

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I do love that too. Today my nickname for him is mafia don.

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Russian mafia don as they hold all his loans

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Defendant Mafia Don.

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Morning, Michele!

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Morning to you too, Lynell!

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Blown Away!

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Great contribution for the occasion of the Gilbert and Sullivan rebirth. Please, somebody(ies) out there, write it. It’s what we need for getting through the summer! The trial scene can be added when the time comes.

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Someone call Randy Rainbow.

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Went to his fan website. Asked him to write, using “We shall Overcomb” and G&S tunes. Suggested he can make history.

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This was his latest as of this morning...brilliant as usual,,,"Donald Jessica T***p", indeed...not G&S, but as good or better..."Boogie-Woogie Bugle Boy" as the inspiration:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ues8ycOxXKM

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I think it is his best one.

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hows about just 'shithead'?

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Ah, Gus, that old standby...said with pinky up, don't you know!

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Didn’t mtg lead the trump faithful at his arraignment protest yesterday in that classic trump spiritual “ We Shall Overcomb”?

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Eerrr ahh or was he con-dummed con-demmed or just tossed into an alley like a con-dom? Puts more color to the expression "blown away". And, meanwhile the drip drip drip of legal fees and court appointments and the cost of running that big shiney Boeing Airplane (jet fuel, tires, eng inspections, etc), guzzle guzzzle. Ugh.. and let's not forget the cost of this creep to all taxpayers. Welp.. that's what happens when one let's their rhinocerous mouth, overload their hummningbird butt.

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"...and let's not forget the cost of this creep to all taxpayers..." ✅✅✅✅

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Seeing all the limos and all the police and thinking: $$$$$$$$$$!!!!

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Yep, Judy, and we taxpayers are paying the bill for all of that security for DJT. My husband was in a snit about it all day.

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He could have been arraigned over Zoom but chose not to be!

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Cost doesn't mean shit to him. He's already raised $24 million from the suckers off this appearance alone. An amount that would go a long way toward ending hunger, paying for school lunches, reuniting immigrant children with their parents, etc etc etc

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He's not paying for hardly any of it. Not the police, not the security....idiot supporters are paying his legal expenses. Trump is the most expensive President we've ever had. ....and a very bad deal. His Secret Service detail pay top US tax dollars to stay in his residencies.

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Or for those folks to pay their power bills, or mortgages or ... lots of other real-world life expenses. Instead, they send their money to DJT, then ask the government (aka us taxpayers) for help from FEMA when their FL homes are damaged from hurricanes. Right?

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🤣🤣

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I won $60 in a pool predicting how Orange's arraignment would go. Quiet seething on the inside and a recitation of every grievance when he got home. Easy money.

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There is a new Randy Rainbow and another guy with songs for the occasion.

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Do not, do not miss the YouTube link someone published this morning. Very clever and lots of fun.

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😃

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"Orange overcomb" - best tfg nickname yet!

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I refer to him as “Cheeto”

He is orange

He is full of hot air

He displays no value to most people

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And he leaves prints on everyone who touches him.

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He is junk food and the kind of empty calories that ruin people's health.

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I like Cheeto Jesus, which I wish I'd thought up.

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YEAH, I have seen that too and it's perfect since some want to worship him as their golden idol!

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Apr 5, 2023
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Good to have some fun with you and clean up afterward.

Cheers, Pat! 🎯(★‿★)

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I've been calling him Donnie-do-wrong. I like Orange overcomb.😀

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Well said Barbara. The Finland, Wisconsin & Chicago stories are historic while the TFG 'event' is well below the fold and just the beginning of the consequences of his illegal activities.

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BK: The Wisconsin election is the beginning of the BLUE tide which is rising steadily.

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And from some pictures I saw it sure looked like he was having a bad hair day! LOL He must have forgotten his hairspray!

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as well as a very dirty suit collar day...

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"Waiting for the day the Orange Overcomb" is replaced with a military-style cut in prison....

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The Orange Overcomb? Priceless 👍.

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Orange Overcomb. Love it.

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Karen,

That's exactly what I was struck with. Once again our Professor paints the picture with a critical historical perspective. Finland joining NATO has enormous implications - physically and symbolically. They have a very strong military and they are another direct neighbor who is saying "No way, Vlad".

And Wisconsin !!! That was the last thing I read before floating off to dreamland. And I woke up this morning with a smile on my face. I grabbed a coffee, opened up the trusty Chromebook and...it is not a dream. Way to go, Judge Janet!

People in the center of the country are rejecting government overreach and want voting to be fair. They want their kids to be safe. Duh. They are disgusted with GQP BS.

Do you suppose there is a Republican strategist somewhere who now gets that his/her party is on the wrong side of every issue?

Those two events and that other one made it feel a lot like Christmas :)

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I share your glee! I was dreading the Wisconsin vote while praying for the youth turnout...actually all of yesterday's events are answered prayers (Finland's government is my favorite where corporations pay their taxes). What I still can't digest is that roomful of fools at Mar-a-Lago whooping it up and openly giving their money to this degenerate felon....

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Sweden HAS TO be admitted as well!

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Turkey is still holding Sweden up. I heard on NPR yesterday that most likely after their current election, Turkey will agree to Sweden joining. All a big bluster from Erdoğan in an election cycle trying to look like he's strong.

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To boot, Turkey under Erdogan is borderline NATO these days. Likewise Hungary, check out the little love affair GOP right has with Orban's government and its failure to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The tendencies of both of these states to move towards greater autocracy is behind the Sweden delay - political comment over Hungary, and the presence of Turkish refugees in Sweden, I believe.

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The irony of a dictatorship led country standing in the way of Sweden's entrance into NATO! Turkey shouldn't even be in it.

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“Queens man arrested...”. Queens Eagle

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Eagle eye Annie, thank you, Special thanks from Queens contact 🙏

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from Jamaica in Queens 😉

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I posted right before your comment was!

Great minds…..

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Whenever I hear or read that phrase, this gem from Kentucky Fried Movie plays in my head:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoYazAAScOE

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Laugh Outloud funny, Derek! I was one of the stars in the movie...the court stenographer!

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Just watched it. How very hilarious! Thank you.

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A break in the weather! We need to laugh. Thank you!

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Remember "Will be wild"? I think the headline in the NYT should have been "Won't be wild".

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As a long time NYC resident, I knew there would be no J6 repeat....Besides New Yorkers intolerance for anything "trump", those Magas wouldn't even know how to cross the streets.

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EXACTLY! Also, a black guy giving her a piece of his mind. something like: "go back to Washington and do your job!"

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Trump is going to have many "in other news" days as indictments pile up. Heather deftly shows how understatement can cut like a knife.

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'His' post arraignment speech was one of depressive, repetitive anger and altogether low-key for Trump. Several party goers screeched their support above a relatively quiet and unimpressive gathering. Might one of the 'cuts' be an ever more deflated orange balloon?

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His fragile, extreme narcissistic personality is like a voodoo doll. Yesterday saw the first pin stick. Many more on the way.

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Short-term, Michael, he's making out! The following from NY Times DealBook. (sorry no gifting at this time)

Trump Finally Has His Day in Court

__Criminal charges are usually kryptonite for a politician, but Donald Trump has so far succeeded in transforming Tuesday’s arraignment in connection with hush-money payment to the porn star Stormy Daniels into a platform to grow his power base.

___Round-the-clock media coverage has been a fund-raising boon. Jason Miller, a Trump aide, tweeted that the former president has raised a record $7 million for his re-election campaign (a claim that has not been independently confirmed) since he was indicted last week.

___Mr. Trump’s standing in the Republican Party seems to be improving. A few months ago, the former president was considered a drag on the party after its lackluster performance in the midterms. But the indictment has forced Republicans to weigh in on Mr. Trump’s case — and most are publicly siding with him.

____The latest polls show Mr. Trump expanding his lead for the Republican primaries. He is still well ahead of the field in New Hampshire, which votes early.

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No doubt. It's hard to see any other candidate dominating the GOP primaries. And I say this as someone who was convinced last year that Trump wouldn't win the nomination. Yet, his appeal in the general election continues to weaken because he's losing more ground with independents and suburban women. It's hard to see any scenario where he wins back these voters given the likelihood of more criminal charges — and more serious ones.

While I greatly admire what Biden has accomplished, I hope a younger more dynamic candidate with broad appeal will emerge to excite Democrats. Gretchen Whitmer?

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A respected, dynamic, experienced person who could awaken and inspire enough Americans, that is the rub Michael. The time is close; the blank is still blank.

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I noticed that too and I also love it When I posted it on Facebook, I mentioned as third, oh yeah, that court arraignment. I also noted that Chicago elected the better candidate as mayor. And I repeated the admonition from the end of letter to keep working to keep MAGA from being successful in their undermining of democracy.

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I had precisely the very same thought!

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Me, too. The more the press ignores DT the better. Just simple facts that are newsworthy, please.

And a Big Thank You to Wisconsin voters.

Now if we buy Ohio could see the light.

Finland joining NATO is good news. Hopefully Sweden will be able to join soon.

Thank you for keeping us so well informed.

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‘Republican Knodl wins 8th Senate District race, giving Republicans a key majority’

‘A Knodl's win again secures a two-thirds majority in the state Senate for Republicans, allowing them to remove state officials impeached in the Assembly.’

‘The Wisconsin Constitution allows lawmakers to remove state officials "for corrupt conduct in office, or for crimes and misdemeanors," but Knodl has said he would consider launching impeachment proceedings for criminal justice officials "who have failed" at their jobs.’

‘Knodl said he would support invoking the that power against Janet Protasiewicz, the Milwaukee County Circuit Court judge who won a race for a vacant seat on the state Supreme Court. Knodl did not immediately say he would consider voting in favor of impeaching Protasiewicz if she is elected.’

‘State law allows a two-thirds majority in the state Senate to hold impeachment trials for state officials accused of corruption or crimes and misdemeanors if a majority of Assembly members vote to introduce impeachment articles, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Reference Bureau.’

‘Republicans now have a 64 to 35 majority in the Assembly. Now that Knodl is leaving the Assembly, his win Tuesday would lift the Republican majority in the Senate to 22-11. (MilwaukeeJournalSentinel) See link below.

https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/elections/2023/04/05/8th-senate-district-election-results-wisconsin-2023-dan-knodl-vs-jodi-habush-sinykin/70061705007/

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So, a win that isn't really a win. I'm sorry, Wisconsin.

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Thank you for sharing the info re the WI election that may well imperil Judge Janet's ability to serve as WI State Supreme Court justice.. I've shared it to my political FB groups. Given the R's tendency to abuse their power, regardless of whether it's an appropriate/legitimate use, it's very likely that will happen.

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An pivotal loss for the democrats in N. Carolina!

'A North Carolina state lawmaker elected as a Democrat is defecting to the GOP, handing Republicans a veto-proof supermajority in the state’s legislature.'

'Rep. Tricia Cotham’s party change gives the GOP increased power over key issues like abortion and elections.'

'Announcing the flip Wednesday, Cotham cited her treatment by Democrats as her motivation. “They have pushed me out. They’ve made it very clear they do not want me,” she said at a news conference at the North Carolina GOP headquarters in Raleigh.'

'Cotham, wearing red and standing in front of NCGOP signs, said the turning point in her decision was when she faced backlash for using the American flag and a prayer-hands emoji in her social media handles and on her vehicles.'

'She said she’s been “bullied” for not toeing the party line and accused Gov. Roy Cooper (D) and the state Democratic Party of demanding she follow the lead of top state officials.'

'Reports first surfaced of Cotham’s switch on Tuesday, prompting North Carolina Democrats to call for Cotham’s resignation for her “deceit” and “betrayal.”

'The change, first reported by Axios Raleigh, comes in the middle of the legislative session during which Cooper signed into law bipartisan legislation expanding Medicaid and tried to use his veto to stop a Republican bill expanding gun access. Cooper called Cotham’s move “disappointing.”

“Rep. Cotham’s votes on women’s reproductive freedom, election laws, LGBTQ rights and strong public schools will determine the direction of the state we love,” Cooper said in a statement to The Washington Post. “It’s hard to believe she would abandon these long held principles and she should still vote the way she has always said she would vote when these issues arise, regardless of party affiliation.” (WAPO) Link below. Sorry, no gifting option.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/04/04/north-carolina-tricia-cotham/

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Disturbing news in NC and Wis legislatur politics

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Examinations of NC's Democratic Party operation as well as Cotham's reasons for leaving the Party are called for by governor Cooper and Jaime Harrison (Chair Democratic National Committee).

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Hard not to think Cotham will be richly rewarded, just like Sinema.

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Apr 5, 2023
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Ethics, political philosophy, self-interest...who does she support? Time will tell rather soon, Pat Cole.

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I agree!

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Exactly my thought.

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