malbec
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Jul 15, 2026 6:29 PM
malbec
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kontroversialkarma
This is also how we are governed in the US. Strictly enforced rules for the poor and working class, but none for the wealthy.
To keep this violent autocracy in control, conservatives will continue breaking constitutional laws.
flordelasantillas
Cat vomit. She's the past the head of the South Carolina Commission for the Blind. Trump wanted the blind leading the blind and he got it.
Krackajak78
Good bless Amerikkka
IamAlbertPotato
The fact that his sister can just take over is next-level stupid
softsuit
Weasley gon to weasel
TexMexHex
https://media3.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPWE1NzM3M2U1cTFmcGFxbmd4ZGtlNTM1cTV1Njl3dDk4cGd3YTliM3doYzM4Z3poOCZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/5jSZYRBhyy6xCgdcnk/200w.webp
rossimus
The House and the Senate are two different institutions guys
fattymcfattzz
That’s because Grindr Mike is a giant piece of fucking shit
DottieRedilla
Mmmm politics
ThatGuyFromJustSouthOfTheMiddleOfNowhere
This will be another midterm ploy as well. Any seats flipped to Dem will face a long delay getting sworn in.
redtruck
Wow!! This is 3rd world nepo shit!!
DrSchlepenstein
By this logic when Trump crooks are they going to make Don Jr president to finish out his term?
nicfletcherdotphoto
Any pretense that America isn't run by ruling families has gone. America is the England America ran away from.
friendsofsandwiches
I remember when Lisa Murkowski was appointed the Alaska seat when her father Frank 'the bank' Murkowski made governor.
GullahGullahIslander
Republicans ruin everything. Not a bug, a feature
wolfspirit21
Ladybugs to be specific
FoxxoniusAugustus
Today I learned that the position of Senator is an inherited position. /s
CallMeCourierSix
South Carolina's laws are shit. The governor can appoint a new senator rather than hold a special election.
This is not the case in all states. Pretty much just MAGAt states.
mineoc
Depends on state laws
ThatGuyFromJustSouthOfTheMiddleOfNowhere
More of a Monarchy and Lindsey was its queen
dtcb131415
time to Fahrenheit 451 the republican party
NVGoddesscottage
Let’s jail him for that
Iblamemyparentstoo
What is it with republicans keeping it in the family like some incestuous klan?
PatrickDenStore
I assume that it's like in a monarchy, if the monarch is childless it goes to the eldest sibling?
Rijacki
Depends on the monarchy. Some might still mandate that it be a male sibling and if not are available then a male descendant of a sibling or a male cousin (go up then down on the tree). There was a sigh of relief in Jolly Old England when the first child of the current heir (then the 2nd heir) was a boy 'cause otherwise it would have tested their new law/mandate that gender didn't matter for descent as heir apparent.
PatrickDenStore
I meant in the style of the current European monarchies.
Arkheno
Darline has never exercised a political mandate and she's an optician by training. Propelling her directly to the United States Senate just to keep the seat warm, it's pure nepotism.
Bojovnik84
The difference is, the govenor controls this decision and can pick the replacement instantly. Mike has no say here. Also, Mike has no say over members of the senate, only the house. The senate does not have a speaker and the president/vp sort of own that role, with there being a majority leader, John Thune.
gablestout
She still had to be sworn in, though, and that was @OP's point.
She was appointed on July 13 and sworn in by the President pro tempore of the U.S. Senate (Chuck Grassley) on July 14.
In Adelita Grijalva's case, Speaker Mike Johnson refused to swear her in, even though it was an uncontested landslide victory, and even after the result was certified.
friendsofsandwiches
Previously Mitch 'braindead turtle' McConnel.
NChomsky
laurapede83
God why'd I click on this. Thanks for spoiling my breakfast and coffee. Can't stop giggling at the name McLadybug tho!
GiantMoron
Fucking gross
NChomsky
They're just little lady bugs. You don't mind them, do you?
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ThatGuyFromJustSouthOfTheMiddleOfNowhere
Understanding you asked the question, a search for "graham ladybug story" will provide you regret for asking
malbec
Knowledge is a crippling burden!!
truk77
Little bit of apples and oranges here, since Johnson is Speaker of the House and Graham was in the Senate.
truk77
Which is not to say that Mike wasn't a piece of crap for pulling it.
gablestout
Nope. Reps and senators still have to be sworn in before they become official. Sen Graham was sworn in 1 day after her appointment, Rep Grijalva wasn't sworn in for 29 days after her special election was certified. She should have been sworn in immediately, like Sen Graham was
foxpotate
Problem is that the dems keep bringing sporks to a gun fight. Fuck, biden spent four fucking years rebuilding red states and neglecting blue states. Motherfucker did more for these assholes than reconstruction and they still wanted to strangle him. Stop playing fair, stop trying to help those dedicated to being shittier than an outhouse after a cryptosporidium outbreak.
Cinnia
I'm still so fucking mad at my state for that. Like come on, we have a blue government trying its damnest to help this red state and it's determined to literally shit itself in rage.
ThrowAwayAcct0000
THIS! People have shown they are willing to move to states that more align with their interests. Look at Florida. Why should blue states keep trying to make red state people happy? Let them have what they voted for.
foxpotate
Establishment cares more about fascists than their own constituents.
azazyel
One was the house, the other the senate, relatives taking a position is not rare. There's plenty of actual stuff to get pissed about
PatrickDenStore
Is there a specific order or does it work like in a monarchy?
azazyel
The governor probably just picks the most pliant
gablestout
Doesn't matter. @OP's point was that Senator Darline Graham was sworn in 1 day after being appointed. Rep Adelita Grijalva wasn't sworn in for 29 days after the results were certified. She should have been sworn in no later than October 14 (the day the results were certified), but Speaker Johnson refused to swear her in (widely suspected to be because she represented a vote to keep the gov't shut down, so he didn't swear her in until after the gov't was reopened)
azazyel
Yeah, one was the house the other the senate. The speaker delayed one like an asshole and has no power over the other.
gablestout
And you think they would have sworn her in so quickly if she were a democrtat?
azazyel
Who cares? At the time he swore in others before her bc 'they had family there.' It was BS then IDK what you're expecting now.
azazyel
Not if they could help it but that's known. There's nothing here that's new or news
woozle
why is it a fucking thing where we put a rando in like that when a senator croaks?
Vercury
Most states (I think Kentucky is the exception) have a setup in place where if a sitting representative dies in office the governor of that state may appoint anyone of their choosing to hold that seat until a special election or other election may be held. It turns out Darline Graham Nordone has worked quietly in state and local politics for many years and was very close to her brother, so it makes sense to me that she would be the pick to continue her brother's work.
BigDaddysMeatWagon
It's called "widows succession" and it's an outdated law here in the U.S., it's not too unusual it occurs. Last time was 2001 I think?
WatcherNotCreeper
There is a precedence for this, being wives in the past... but Lindsey... you know... didn't go that way for some reason.
Rink257
We are supposed to hold a special vote within 30 days.
pan069
Sounds like there should be a vice senator.
kleinbotl
Because Trump said so. That's literally it. Trump said Graham's sister should take his place, so she did. Trump wants America to be a feudal monarchy, or rather, he already thinks it is. He fully intends for his kids to take over the White House throne when he croaks, so naturally it should be a family member that takes over the fief of one of his vassals, too
MyGreatestFearBoner
Yeah but Gram had a lifetime membership in the cuck chair, he was never given a cabinet position dispite his loyalty.
NeverDownvoteMelBrooks
To prove that incumbency isn't that important to being an elected official.
Hellbat666
The senate is just another family owned and operated business. And she is his sister… ta da.
spontaneous9
It's probably the reason he, uhhh, ... "died unexpectedly" when he did.
Ahem.
Hellbat666
You’re probably NOT wrong lol.
ThrowAwayAcct0000
All of our politicians are random people: car salesmen, actors, reality show contestants... you don't even need to prove you can READ to be a politician in the United States. We have small towns where a dog is the mayor. There's no rules or qualifications.
IceKarma
If I recall correctly, those dogs are usually honorary mayors in places that don't actually have one, not elected ones, but I wouldn't be very surprised if there's a few animals serving as elected mayors. 😹
Eleshar24
In general, I expected that to become an elected representative, you are supposed to be, you know... elected.
ThrowAwayAcct0000
Hey, I would love if that were true.
poscduke
Because when a Representative dies there needs to be a special election, but when a Senator dies (in most but not all states) the Governor appoints a replacement. Generally this replacement serves only a few months until an election can be held. There is a long line of family specifically spouses filling in for deceased Senator
Partly because there are 435 reps and only 100 Senators and a missing Sen has a bigger impact and because historically all Senators were appointed by state legislators.
B3N15
Most states have special elections to replace Senators, this is just a weird case where the earliest you could have the special election would be the normal election to replace the seat.
poscduke
35 states allow a gubernatorial appointment until the next scheduled general election. 15 states require a special election. In total 46 states allow for a temporary appointment until a replacement can be elected.
CoqRoq
Not a rando. She is his sister and therefore answerable to the same people that were pulling Lindsey's strings.
noWhiteHorseHereJustBatturuPrinsu
They can even use the same incest blackmail material
woozle
lol
IGetAllMyFactsFromHere
Speculation around Lidsey's death, is that it was likely a hit, because he was key figure against dump's "save" act, but his sister wasn't. Watch her vote in-favor of it despite Lindsey being against it.
Reason why people started speculating this is because dump yesterday was publicly complaining about the FBI investigating Lindsey's death saying it "is a waste of time" (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-fbi-lindsey-graham-death-conspiracy-theories/). I wasn't suspicious before, but I am now.
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Septcanmat
Honestly, the position being passed to the wife is kinda weird too. That’s some feudal / aristocratic / only-landowners-have-rights shit.
woozle
He didn't have a "wife."
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LordofGoats
Lindsey Graham, like Roy Cohn, hired male sex workers while pushing anti-LGBT legislation (among so many other evils). This is none of the things you say.
NoCutsNoButsNoCoconuts
Depends on the state laws as well as how soon until election. Because the constitution originally intended for state representatives to appoint a senator (changed with 17A in 1913), the fringe cases such as this are still left up to the states.
woozle
ChosenChaos
In Australia, if a Senator is unable to complete their term of office for any reason, the Premier of the state they represented appoints a replacement to serve out the remainder of the term. By convention, the replacement is nominated by the party the original Senator represented.
whiskeywonka
Yea, we need to yoink the 12A as well. Most the ones that change how the government officials are elected, picked, etc, need rolled back. The changes are 99% to make it easier for the game to be gamed.
NoCutsNoButsNoCoconuts
...you want to remove the fact that the electoral college casts 1 vote for a president and 1 for vice president, intended to make it so POTUS and VPOTUS run on the same ticket instead of VPOTUS being POTUS’s top rival?
whiskeywonka
I think you have a typo. P/VP run on the same ticket now, where as prior to 12a, you just had X people running for P and the 1st was elected P and 2nd as VP.
whiskeywonka
Yes.The founding fathers /wanted/ the P/VP to be elected like that specifically to keep one side from gaming the system. It would be that the rise of 3rd party's(IE no D/R)would progress the political systems over time.You couldnt have 'vote party lines' for many things where they are unpopular as they would quickly lose. Another is we need to also force 1 bill 1 vote and not have riders or 'you have to pass it to see whats in it' bullshit. Imagine if the orange one had Kamala for vp. Imagine it
SinStar87
they had party lines in the 2nd election and couldn't govern because rivalries between p and vp. Thus the immediate passing of the 12th in 1803. If you want massive change of amendments, why not push to dissolve the presidency and senate, empower the house, for some proper democracy?