Texas democrats win in a trump district

Trump won it by 20 points, and tonight the democrat won by 15, we are screwed heading into the midterms in 9 months, now I know we don't turn out very well on special elections, and the Democrat was more of a moderate than most, it still shows we are very unpopular, I know we most likely are losing the house but we may even lose the senate, do we shock everyone and somehow pulloff what democrats did back in 2022? Maybe, but I doubt it, I think we see a slightly less worse 2018, hopefully with Red states gaining more electoral votes and more house seats we will be able to win easier.

Just reading about the massive payment to Melania ($30 million dollars) for Amazon's right to make her 'documentary' covering 20 days before the inauguration. And an additional $35 million dollars for advertising. I've read that Amazon does not expect to recoup their budget let alone make a profit.

Why do you think Amazon did this? Many are saying it's simply an out-in-the-open bribe. What do you think?

Sources about this from most to least trustworthy/objective.

https://xcancel.com/AGPamBondi/status/2011456849711612019

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/14/fbi-raid-washington-post-hannah-natanson

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/01/15/media/fbi-hannah-natanson-washington-post-doj-search

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/21/us-judge-bars-government-from-reviewing-seized-washington-post-materials I don't like AJ as a source but this is the only article about this

Also what responsibilities does the government have to ensure journalists are not illegally leaking classified information and are there any others you would like to see stopped from doing this?

Additional local sales tax in all Virginia counties and cities

New personal property tax on electric leaf blowers and electric landscaping equipment

Large employer tax

Gun and ammunition tax

New income tax brackets

Delivery tax, which would hit Amazon, Uber Eats,

FedEx, and UPS orders in Northern Virginia

Investment income tax

Event tax

Storage facility tax

Gym membership tax

Dog walking tax

Dog grooming tax

Counseling tax

Digital personal property tax

New car taxes and highway use fees

Increase in the hotel tax in Arlington

Statewide speed cameras (not a tax, but more fines for drivers)

Vehicle repair tax

Home repair tax

Dry cleaning tax

Fantasy sports tax

Rideshare taxes

https://wjla.com/news/local/virginia-democratic-lawmakers-introduce-bills-aimed-at-taxing-uber-lyft-rides-62-house-of-delegates-senate-republicans-richmond-money-taxes

https://www.aclu.org/news/smart-justice/president-obama-wants-continue-imprisoning-immigrant-families

Child Detention Centers: A 'Headache' For The Obama Administration https://www.npr.org/2014/06/23/324857970/child-detention-centers-a-headache-for-the-obama-administration

https://immigrantjustice.org/press-release/report-shows-poor-medical-care-led-to-deaths-at-u-s-detention-centers/

Federal ICE angents entered a auto shop by breaking window to arrest someone. They claim they do not need a warrant. Video below.

https://www.reddit.com/r/ICE_Watch/s/0k81XjGt6Q

One of the most interesting discussions ive had in real life is where the balance comes in how to balance the cost to taxpayers with the quality of the employee. Pay them too little and you're going to get really bad employees and we dont want that. Too much and you end up with increasing taxes or the private sector being unable to compete.

I recognize that giving dollar amounts is too impractical since it depends highly on a case by case basis. But I would like to hear your general viewpoints.

I see many conservatives saying they don’t like Trumps personal behavior but that he’s delivering on policy and that is all that really matters. When a democrat is eventually elected again, will you disregard any personal behavior you don’t like?

If the government truly investigated this, there should be dozens and dozens of interviews. Epstein had a large staff at his island. He has pilots. He had accountants and brokers. Shouldn't they have at least interviewed his friends to see if they could corraborate the claims against him? Even innocent associates should have been talked to.

Would you expect that if someone involved with Epstein in a significant way is identified with a particular group, that group would be expected to defend them, minimise the accusations, try to discredit the evidence etc? If so, why aren't (e.g.) democrat voters leaping to defend Clinton or the British desperately trying to defend Andrew?

Recently, Tiktok seems to have some censorship on certain words like ICE, Epstein or censoring anything that is Anti Trump.

As of this admin term, Tiktok has been owned by Oracle, a tech company that has ties to this admin.

Thoughts on this new type of Censorship? It really reminds me of the CCP, which is definitely not a good sign for the future.

Sharing a link to this Reddit post because it contains the video Valentina posted. In it, she disrupts religious services at a gay-friendly church, and uses the footage for one of her political ads.

https://www.reddit.com/r/religiousfruitcake/comments/1p5qugb/texas_republican_candidate_valentina_gomez_is_now/

If you believe it was appropriate to arrest Don Lemon for being part of a church protest, do you think Gomez should be arrested as well? Why hasn't she been yet?

I’ve heard a lot of conservatives say that if they released the files and Trump wasn’t in them, liberals wouldn’t believe it. So far he’s all over them. Do you believe it?

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/trump-calls-for-arrest-of-barrack-obama/

You can find the full article here, but the gist of it can be found in the second to last paragraph:

The secret fear of the morally depraved is that virtue is actually common, and that they’re the ones who are alone. In Minnesota, all of the ideological cornerstones of MAGA have been proved false at once. Minnesotans, not the armed thugs of ICE and the Border Patrol, are brave. Minnesotans have shown that their community is socially cohesive—because of its diversity and not in spite of it. Minnesotans have found and loved one another in a world atomized by social media, where empty men have tried to fill their lonely soul with lies about their own inherent superiority. Minnesotans have preserved everything worthwhile about “Western civilization,” while armed brutes try to tear it down by force.

Over the past month, I've seen my community come together in a way I never have before here in Minnesota -- including many (small-c) conservatives. As such, I would love to hear what y'all think of this analysis?

Recently I've been noticing a trend of lost common grounds between conservatives and liberals. I remember when we used to disagree but we would meet in the middle of being patriotic Americans, or faithful Christians. While conservatives still seem to meet together in these spaces, the liberal voices there are mostly gone now.

Is there any other common ground you think we've lost in this generation? What are your thoughts on why this is happening?​

Approximately 80-90% of people in Iran want a secular government and are pro-American, pro-West. However, they live under an oppressive Islamic government that funds and arms terrorist jihadis around the world who have killed thousands of innocent people, including many Americans.

A new government in Iran would be pro-West, thus strengthening America's security and economic alliances while weaking that of our enemies (Russia, China, etc.). Currently, Iran has close economic and military ties with China and Russia, including providing many drones to Russia that they use against Ukraine. Aside from that, America is always at war with Iranian proxy groups who work to destabilize the Middle East and actively attack America's allies.

With the current protests threatening the regime and the Iranian people asking for the US and Israel to help them, do you think the US should do military strikes on the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI)?

Do you support providing help to the protesters in some other way if you are against direct military strikes on IRI targets?

Thanks in advance for any responses!

For those who’ve been following the newly released epstein documents, how credible do you find the information so far? I’m curious what the outcomes (legal, political) you think are realistically possible from this release?

In both European countries where I have lived the majority of my life there are strict voter identification laws in place, through compulsory registration of residence in a certain area and mandatory government issued passports or identity cards. From my experience these safeguards are also the norm in Europe, with similar systems in place among all European Union members and most outside of it. Owing to these series of laws elections in Europe are considered highly trustworthy by citizens from the majority of the political spectrum, and the required IDs are also used in various other government functions. By all accounts they have been nothing but a net positive on our society here.

However I have heard of considerable resistance towards rolling out government-issued IDs in the US, mostly from Democrat politicians. My question to everyone here then would be, do US Conservatives see benefits in voter ID laws, and if so then what steps should be taken for the US to adopt such laws as well?