Cook Political Report’s resident redistricting expert Dave “I’ve Seen Enough” Wasserman says the 2023 US House reapportionment is actually more or less a wash. “On the current trajectory, there will actually be a few *more* Biden-won congressional districts after redistricting than there are now (224/435)” says Wasserman in a Twitter thread analyzing the state of play.

Wasserman says that with aggressive gerrymandering in both blue and red states increasing the number of 2020 Biden +5 seats from 138 to 144 and Trump +5 seats from 106 to 117, the real casualty is “highly competitive” seats, down to 19 from 34 in the prior decade. “The biggest threat to Dems’ House majority isn’t redistricting; it’s Biden’s approval rating” says Wasserman.

Like we’ve said here before, it’s ridiculous to expect Dem-run states to just unilaterally disarm on Gerrymandering when – for example – Utah is splitting Salt Lake City into four different districts to make their state 4R and 0D. More than enough states have these lame bipartisan redistricting commissions that either leave everything static or worse – get ignored by GOP-run legislatures. Of course we’d rather see every state use real bipartisan redistricting commissions with the absolute final word than have New York sharpie out five GOP seats in retaliation.

Overall outlook: Generic ballot polls are looking a little less shitty lately for Dems, a few even show them in the black. Just on Wednesday a Zogby survey put Dems ahead of the GOP 44 to 40 while a YouGov Economist poll showed Dems leading 43 to 36. In the last Midterm in 2018 an 8.4% national popular vote win by Dems mapped to a 41 seat gain in the House – a result that a lot of pollsters called mostly accurately beforehand (the RCP average was +7.3 Dems). All said there are not a whole lot of things that need to go right for the Dems to hang on to the House. That’s not to say it’ll be easy, but the right combo of MAGA misbehavior (guaranteed, but it’s a question of severity) turning off suburban voters and Biden’s approval improving (tougher given the complete shitshow America finds itself in beyond his control) and it juuuuuust miiiiight work out.

Democratic Pennsylvania Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon, of Pennsylvania’s 5th Congressional district which includes parts of South Philadelphia, was carjacked at gunpoint after touring a park in Philadelphia with other government officials, WPVI ABC-6 in Philadelphia reports.  She was not injured in the incident.

The incident happened at 2:45 p.m. Wednesday local time.  Scanlon was returning to her car in the 1900 block of Pattison Avenue in FDR Park.  Two men in an SUV pulled up next to her, displayed a gun and demanded her car keys for her blue 2017 Acura MDX.

Scanlon complied with the demand.  One of the men drove her car and both vehicles were last seen westbound on Pattison toward Penrose.  Scanlon’s personal cell phone, government cell phone, purse and identification were inside the vehicle.

Attendees of a December 10-11th QAnon fan conference in Dallas who have since fallen ill are convinced they were the targets of a weaponized anthrax attack by the Deep State rather than the victims of what often happens when a shit ton of unvaxxed and unmasked people get together in a confined space, Vice News reports. The weeks since the ReAwaken America tour event (a demented MAGA version of TED Talks) in Dallas which featured headliners such as disgraced former General Mike Flynn, Eric Trump, Texas AG Ken Paxton, former Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis, MyPillow assclown Mike Lindell, and Dr Stella “Demon Sperm Lady” Immanuel, among others, have seen at least several low level MAGAverse celebrities come down with something.

“There’s a 99.9% chance it’s anthrax,” said Q-universe famous podcaster Joel Oltmann on his show and no he didn’t cite any evidence whatsoever. Describing himself as “sick, sick”, Oltmann also claimed “Stop the Steal” dipshit Jovan Pultzer had “body lesions and weeping skin” and hasn’t been heard from in days. The anthrax claim was boosted by clowns such as former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne and the alleged “real” QAnon/GOP House candidate Ron Watkins.

Alt-right fanboys pointed to a fog machine being used on the stage at the event as a possible vector for this supposed anthrax attack on the America First crowd, something which ReAwaken America tour CEO Clay Clark was forced to address during an interview with vicious, beady-eyed rodent Stewie Peters. Clark told Peters he’s not in the Illuminati and the anthrax was just a “rumor”.

McDonald’s will ration the number of orders of french fries available in their Japanese restaurants because of a shortage of potatoes in the country, CNN reports.  From December 24 to December 30 only the small size servings of french fries will be available to customers nationwide in Japan.

The problem stems from the fact that McDonald’s in Japan import their potatoes, primarily from North America, and there was a flooding problem and coronavirus issues at a port in Vancouver, Canada from which most of the spuds are shipped.

The rationing means no one will be able to buy medium, large or supersized fries in Japan, and customers can only get one small fry order for each sandwich purchased.  Japanese customers of the restaurant have described the shortage as “[a] truly disastrous end to 2021,” saying “Potato shortage — a 2-word horror story.”

The House January 6th Select Committee has requested some answers from spandex-wearing wrestling freak Congressman Jim Jordan about his conversations with Trump during the Capitol riot. This follows a similar non-subpoena request sent to Jordan’s fellow Freedom Caucasian Scott Perry on Monday, a request that was promptly and publicly rejected by Perry on Tuesday. The requests are not subpoenas – out of deference to fellow current members of the House – though they may be escalated to full subpoenas in the event of non-cooperation, a safe bet with Jordan.

“The Select Committee has tremendous respect for the prerogatives of Congress and the privacy of its Members. At the same time, we have a solemn responsibility to investigate fully the facts and circumstances of these events. We write to seek your voluntary cooperation in advancing our investigation” wrote Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson in the letter, before detailing the specifics of what the committee is seeking information about – mainly the timing and content of Jordan’s conversations with Trump before and during the Capitol riot.

“The American people deserve a full and accurate accounting of what happened on January 6th. We aim to make informed legislative recommendations taking account of all relevant facts. Thank you in advance for your consideration of this request” Thompson concludes the letter cordially.

Patrick De Haan, a writer at GasBuddy.com and an energy market analyst, notes that the site finds “12 states with average under $3/gal and 36 US cities where prices have fallen by over 25c/gal in the last 30 days,” a story that will not get picked up by most media, but will have Chuck Todd wondering if lower gas prices spell doom for Joe Biden in the midterms.  

Disgraced former General Michael Flynn’s Tuesday motion for an injunction against the House January 6th Select Committee’s subpoena for his testimony has already been tossed by a Florida federal court, one day after his lawsuit was first filed, CNN reports.

Proud Boys member Matt Greene of Syracuse, New York pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count each of conspiracy and obstruction of a federal proceeding NBC Washington’s Scott MacFarlane reports. The terms of his plea agreement include cooperation with federal prosecutors – which would implicate the other conspirators – and a $2,000 fine paid to the Architect of the Capitol. Greene could end up with 41 to 51 months in prison, per MacFarlane. Greene, a 10th grade dropout, called himself a “first degree Proud Boy” on social media.

“You have BLM and you had antifa people. I have very little doubt about that and they were antagonizing and they were agitating” the Orange Warlord said to the right wing media hell witch.

New cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant in South Africa appear to have peaked, with data showing a 20% decrease in new daily cases over the past week, leading some researchers to believe the spread of the highly-contagious strain may have already hit its apex.

According to the New York Times, South Africa public health data show a drop in new cases in four of the countries most-populated provinces, while increases were reported in three other territories, leading to charts of new cases to show a defined peak last week.

“This is encouraging and quite optimistic in terms of the decreasing trends and case numbers,” said Dr. Michelle Groome, an epidemiologist at the National Institute of Communicable Diseases.  Groome noted that the reduction in reported cases may be related to a lower testing rate in South Africa over the past week due to the holiday season.

President Biden announced he has extended the grace period for 41 million Americans for repaying student loans for an additional 90 days, extending it through May 1, 2022, giving some relief to people impacted by the coronavirus, the Washington Post reports.

“Now, while our jobs recovery is one of the strongest ever — with nearly 6 million jobs added this year, the fewest Americans filing for unemployment in more than 50 years, and overall unemployment at 4.2 percent — we know that millions of student loan borrowers are still coping with the impacts of the pandemic and need some more time before resuming payments,” Biden said in a statement.

“This is an issue Vice President Harris has been closely focused on, and one we both care deeply about,” he continued.  “Given these considerations, today my Administration is extending the pause on federal student loan repayments for an additional 90 days — through May 1, 2022 — as we manage the ongoing pandemic and further strengthen our economic recovery.”

The Food and Drug Administration has approved the new Pfizer drug Paxlovid as the first treatment in pill form for patients who have contracted coronavirus, NBC News reports.  The pill does not eliminate the virus in the body, but it does reduce the risk of severe cases of COVID19.

Along with monoclonal antibodies and treatments of Remdesivir, Paxlovid becomes one more authorized treatment for people who have contracted coronavirus.  The FDA has not approved hydroxychloroquine, ivermectin, bleach injections or mysterious Canadian mud, which are popular unproven treatments among uninformed patients who have not embraced vaccinations.

Calling the approval “a major step forward,” Dr. Patrizia Cavazzoni, director of the agency’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in a statement, “This authorization provides a new tool to combat Covid-19 at a crucial time in the pandemic as new variants emerge and promises to make antiviral treatment more accessible to patients who are at high risk for progression to severe Covid-19,”

Both parents of “The Walking Dead” actress Alicia Witt were found dead of unknown causes at their home in Worchester, Massachusetts Monday, the Associated Press reports.  Police say the deaths are not suspicious.

Witt reached out to a cousin who lives near her parents, Robert Witt, 87, and Diane Witt, 75, after she hadn’t heard from them in a number of days.  The cousin called police asking them to conduct a safety check, and police found the couple dead in their home.

Neighbors reported that the Witts were having furnace problems and may have used a portable space heater, leading some to propose the couple died of carbon monoxide poisoning, but officials found no trace of carbon monoxide in the house.

The inaugural edition of this now annual recap “The Spartan comments that got removed from The Hill in 2020” was published on National Zero on December 22nd, 2020, so might as well stick to that arbitrarily chosen date for round two. And yeah, some of these are just a wee bit offensive:

Spartan NZ ✓TEAM SOROS™ • 13 days ago Removed
️Meadows might as well start practicing with some vegetables for what it’s going to feel like when he’s with his future cellmate. Don’t lube the cucumber up either. There’s no Astroglide in prison
Thu, 12/9/2021 3:32 PM on ‘House to vote next week on bills to denounce Islamophobia, hold Meadows in contempt’

Spartan NZ ✓TEAM SOROS™ • 13 days ago Removed
️Cooperating means he’s a traitor… Get your gallows ready Trumpsters.
Thu, 12/9/2021 2:55 PM on ‘Activist who organized ‘Stop the Steal’ rallies cooperating with Jan. 6 committee: report’

Spartan NZ ✓TEAM SOROS™ interloper • a month ago Removed
️Stop shoving live gerbils up your ass. It’s animal cruelty.
Wed, 11/17/2021 5:36 PM on ‘House votes to censure Gosar and boot him from committees’

Spartan NZ ✓TEAM SOROS™ • a month ago Removed
️Luckily the migrants stayed dry because the Polish troops couldn’t figure out how to light the fuse on their water cannon without getting the gunpowder wet.
Tue, 11/16/2021 7:49 AM on ‘Polish border troops fire water cannon at rock-throwing migrants’

Spartan NZ ✓TEAM SOROS™ ThatsAFact • 4 months ago Removed
️Bro, remember when you guaranteed Trump would win re-election in a landslide and then he lost and your MAGA buddies came up with some bullshit story where Venezuela rigged it against him? That was great.
Sat, 8/28/2021 11:57 AM on ‘Delta surge threatens working parents, labor market’

Spartan NZ ✓TEAM SOROS™ Qwash • 5 months ago Removed
️Just wait until the Trump ball suckers here find out he isn’t coming back this month
Mon, 8/2/2021 8:49 AM on ‘Bad week in Trumpland signals hope for American democracy’

Speaking to what appears to be a high school intern, Senator Ted Cruz (R-Quintana Roo) says that he’s virtually a lock for the 2024 Republican nomination for president due to the fact that he lost the 2016 nomination race.  While this will likely upset the self-presumptive nominee, former office holder Donald Trump, Trump shouldn’t be concerned because Cruz will undoubtedly crumble and end up making fundraising calls for whoever the Party opts to nominate.

Member of Baden-Württemberg state parliament and local chair of the far-right Alternative for Germany party Bernd Grimmer has died of a virus he refused to get vaccinated for, Spiegel reports. Throughout the now nearly two year old global ordeal Grimmer complained the media was “panic-mongering” about the virus, and praised Sweden’s lax pandemic safety measures.

“Keep an eye on cartel parties. After months of alarmism are coming now medieval methods of
social ostracism applies, to bring even those to their knees who so far the ‘vaccination offer’ declined with thanks to have. At the same time one rejoices, too claim there is no compulsory vaccination” Grimmer wrote on Facebook in September. Should fit nice on a tombstone.

In a move that Trumpians everywhere will envy, a town in Illinois named a convicted arsonist to be the town’s fire chief, prompting the majority of the town’s 11 person volunteer firefighters to resign in protest, the Washington Post reports.

In a sudden and unexplained move, the Prairie Du Pont Fire Protection District’s board of trustees voted to remove Chief John Rosenkranz, who headed the department for four years and has served for nearly two decades.

The board put assistant chief Jerame Simmons in charge, prompting Laura Rosenkranz, the chief’s wife and a captain in the department, to resign her position, as did nine other members of the 13 person crew.  Simmons was convicted of two counts of arson in 1999, when he was an 18-year-old, for burning ceiling tiles at his high school and setting a house ablaze.  He was later pardoned by Democratic Governor  J.B. Pritzker.  Simmons’ father, Herb Simmons, is now the director of the county’s emergency management agency.

With a shrinking pool of potential heirs to the throne, a Japanese government panel recommended that the toothless position of emperor should continue to be handed down only to males, the Associated Press reports.

With Emperor Naruhito two months away from his 62nd birthday, the line of succession for the throne is limited to his younger brother, 56-year-old Akishino, and Akishino’s teenage son, Hisahito — other than his 86-year-old uncle, Prince Hitachi.  Called the Tennō, or the “Heavenly Emperor,” the position is the symbol of the Japanese state.

The pool of potential successors has also shrunk due to the rule that women in the imperial houses who marry commoners must lose their royal positions.  Naruhito’s daughter Aiko, his only child, is not eligible to inherit the throne.  Her cousin Mako left the royal family after marrying her college sweetheart last month. 

The estimate of US economic growth in the third quarter of 2021 was revised upward to 2.3% from 2.1%, pushing the annual estimate of economic growth in the nation to 5.6%, the highest rate of economic growth since 1984, Reuters reports.

With the distribution of the coronavirus vaccine, many economic sectors experienced a significant gain in the first three quarters of the year, with the third quarter detrimentally impacted by the spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus.

The 5.6% annual growth rate would be the highest since 7.2% growth in 1984, spurred by deficit spending by Ronald Reagan.  The US economy shrunk 3.4% in the last year of the Trump Administration.

“Never in my life could I have dreamed that something I posted on Facebook would be used against my husband, would lead him to be arrested” Chruchville, Pennsylvania woman Lynn Edwards said to a federal court in DC on Monday, per the Philadelphia Inquirer. Her husband Gary Edwards, 68, was sentenced to one year of probation, 200 hours of community service, and a $2,500 fine for entering the Capitol on January 6th. He was not implicated in any other crime besides the trespass.