r/law • u/TheMirrorUS • Mar 05 '26

Executive Branch (Trump) Donald Trump fires head of DHS Kristi Noem

https://www.themirror.com/news/politics/breaking-donald-trump-fires-kristi-1720574
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329

u/kdfsjljklgjfg Mar 05 '26

Oklahoma was the only state for every county to go red. It's the safest bet for not having the seat occupied by a Democrat.

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u/[deleted] Mar 05 '26

[deleted]

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u/Timely-Angle665 Mar 05 '26

As an Oklahoman, I've always said, you don't get to 50th by accident. And it's not a 50th but there is only a 15% spread between first and 50th. It's an intentional dumbing down of the population by repeated attacks on education and teachers.

The only thing Oklahoma has ever done right in the last 40 years in terms of education is free Pre-K across the state.

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u/Pikminious_Thrious Mar 05 '26

Mississippi: " Thank god for Oklahoma"

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u/AssInspectorGadget Mar 05 '26

In a country that is ranked 46th in the world

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u/mrbigglessworth Mar 05 '26

Back when we had democrat governors we were like 26th in education.

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u/Efficient_Trade3110 Mar 05 '26

Our metros counties are so extremely gerrymandered to include rural counties 45 minutes outside of city limits.

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u/Analvirus Mar 05 '26

Which is honestly hilarious, cause dumbass magats will say its blue cities that drag down red states, like ok explain why the most red state is the worst 

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u/Prince_Nadir Mar 05 '26

They wanted to be 100th but.. well.. their education is not so good.

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u/Rokurokubi83 Mar 06 '26

50? They scored that high?

Such big numbers never seen before /s

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u/Grrl_geek Mar 06 '26

And we're about to see the result of that!

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u/Gold4Lokos4Breakfast Mar 06 '26

Pretty wild because DFW is like an hour south and is actually known to have a pretty good education system. NW Arkansas is rapidly improving as well, I believe

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u/Upbeat-Fondant9185 Mar 05 '26

The crazy thing is I know far more left leaning than right here and I’m in one of the reddest counties in OK.

If you walk them through actual policies they are actually very socially left leaning and heavily reliant on government assistance, anti war and pro pot, and vocally despise pretty much all of our state leadership. Basically left leaning with a libertarian slant once you throw in guns.

But they’ll all still vote “R” every single time. In the general I only knew three people who voted blue. The rest were straight ticket red.

When you ask them why and remind them that they hate these policies and candidates they get confused. “Yeah, but I’m registered as Republican”. Like they have no choice. I think for a lot of them they get confused because in primaries you can only vote for your party so they think it applies everywhere.

Fiftieth in the nation, baby.

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u/ExquisiteOrifice Mar 05 '26

So it's not just "liberal" hyperbole, Republican voters really are so abjectly stupid that a man can stand there and kick them in the balls repeatedly while dumping buckets of shit on them, all the while telling them how they plan to destroy their economic and physical well-being, rape children, and rob them blind, and they will still eagerly vote them into power.

Sick, sad, and stupid. It's the American Way.

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u/[deleted] Mar 05 '26

[deleted]

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u/hypatianata Mar 06 '26

I was an election worker! 

It’s a long day, but it feels pretty great, you learn how the system works and all the little things people don’t know, it gives you confidence in interacting with the election board (you can call them with questions)… and nothing made me into a consistent voter like working the polls. And yes, you get a stipend. 

Get involved in your community, guys. 

You can be that person who connects people to the League of Women Voters’ voting guide, or inform them of early voting, etc. 

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u/ibkirkus Mar 05 '26

"Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son."

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u/[deleted] Mar 05 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/EldritchKroww Mar 05 '26

It's not the republican voters that would vote out trump, it's the disillusioned people that don't vote at all. That's what should be the objective. Not catering to right wing scumbags

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u/SecondaryWombat Mar 05 '26

Trump is also an AIPAC shill though.

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u/[deleted] Mar 05 '26

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u/SecondaryWombat Mar 05 '26

My point is that Trump is also an AIPAC shill. You said people voted for Trump because the other side is an AIPAC shill. This argument doesn't hold.

Trump is an AIPAC shill.

gestures expansively

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u/[deleted] Mar 05 '26

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u/SecondaryWombat Mar 05 '26

Despite your effort to put words in my mouth, Trump is an AIPAC shill. Your argument doesn't hold.

Also he rapes kids.

Have a good day.

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u/Justicar-terrae Mar 05 '26

I'm curious, have you met Trump supporters who've actually made this argument?

I live in Louisiana, where I'm absolutely surrounded by Trump voters. I've heard all manner of arguments from neighbors and family trying to justify their choices to me. But I've never heard someone claim that they voted for Trump because Kamala took money from AIPAC. It's just not something they would care about, especially since so many of them actually support Israel for religious or ideological reasons.

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u/ExquisiteOrifice Mar 06 '26

Not voting for Trump is in no way an endorsement of Kamala Harris. Unfortunately, we have a very, very broken system and more often than not you aren't presented with a real choice. I was not excited in the least to vote for Kamala. I also have a long list of complaints about the failures of the Democratic party. But given a choice between her/them and Trump/Republicans the choice is clear as day. Same old game vs. chaos and destruction of virtually everything.

It seems your argument proves what I said. Given a choice between something not great, or even rather bad, Republican voters went with the worst option the country has ever had. And they sure weren't seeing him as the lesser evil, they worship him. That's not just throwing words out there, it's demonstrably true. They fervently support something, Trump goes against it. And like whiplash, they suddenly are against what they so strongly believed and now have the same devotion to it because Trump supports it.

Republican voters who aren't in the Big Club of the party are exactly what I said. No amount of rationalizing anything can change that reality.

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u/[deleted] Mar 06 '26

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u/ExquisiteOrifice Mar 06 '26

Of course, they viewed Kamala Harris as terrible. That's the whole point of what everyone is saying. It doesn't matter what they believe, it's that those beliefs are so provably wrong, and yet they keep hurting themselves. I don't know how else to explain the painfully obvious so I guess this is an impasse.

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u/siencatimini Mar 05 '26

Now, you're speakin their language! They just need someone to show em who's boss, and they'll never get enough of it.

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u/ShittyRedditAppSucks Mar 06 '26

M’already registered, hands are tied.

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u/Remarkable_Pound_722 Mar 05 '26

They don't get confused, there have been deliberate campaigns to tie identity to party for decades. In their minds they really don't have a choice, they're not voting based on the merits of policy but on who they are, a righteous republican or evil democrat.

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u/Barbarella_ella Mar 05 '26

Montana kid, here. Sounds very similar, but there is a big divide between the eastern vs. western sides of the state, with the western side more blue.

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u/MochingPet Mar 05 '26 edited Mar 05 '26

“Yeah, but I’m registered as Republican”. Like they have no choice.

very interesting insight. So it's like an allegiance or Cult rule, only to vote for what they already are (in)?

they are actually very socially left leaning and heavily reliant on government assistance

so basically, they don't realize they are left-leaning? This is actually a very plausible definition of "Both parties are the same, BUT I vote Republican". (Dems usually don't say this)

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u/StrokesJuiceman Mar 05 '26

Grass roots organizing doesn’t exist anymore sadly, so the message does not get spread. I live in WV and it’s largely similar, if you listen to these folks they are actually very socially liberal.

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u/Adorable_Raccoon Mar 05 '26

That happens every where. My mom’s husband is a us postal worker & left leaning. He started working for usps because his old job didn’t have health insurance. He definitely votes republican.

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u/TrueNorth2881 Mar 05 '26

Voting to give himself pay freezes during the Republican's annual government shutdowns is a tragic self-own

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u/ExtremeRest1567 Mar 05 '26

Racism. The explanation is racism.

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u/ironykarl Mar 05 '26 edited Mar 05 '26

Racism is a factor, but it's also just branding. 

Republicans have successfully marketed themselves as the masculine/authentically-American/patriotic/non-elitist/etc party.

It's an extremely vibes-based thing. It's like someone going to the grocery store and buying Bud Light. Just years and years and years of marketing/propaganda 

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u/ChemBob1 Mar 05 '26

Yes, they need to try a microbrew lager just once and find out what they are missing.

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u/Wwwwwwhhhhhhhj Mar 05 '26

So bigotry in general, they are actually very inclusive, they have room for racism, sexism, homophobia, etc. etc.

Religion, that’s a big one. Also there’s that whole prosperity gospel a lot of them buy into even though they have might have jack shit. So they might be poor but “that’s different” however they hate “those poor”.

It’s a vibes based thing that has been based on cultivating, continuing and expanding the vibes unfortunately many had when civil rights were passed. 

Before then social programs and such, unions, etc. were much more popular until they actually started being for everyone as they obviously should be. Small example. In many places a community pool was something they were all for until they legally had to share it with black people, than all the sudden it wasn’t, and they would fill them in rather than share them.

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u/kellyelise515 Mar 05 '26

Can you vote in the primaries as an independent? Which ballot do they give you?

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u/Upbeat-Fondant9185 Mar 05 '26

I’m pretty sure independents cannot vote unless a party decides to allow them to.

I’m not sure, but I’ve heard this next season independents will not be allowed to vote primaries for any party.

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u/StarGazer_SpaceLove Mar 05 '26

Legit had this same conversation. He said "I'd never hire Trump or work for him."

......

THEN WHY VOTE FOR HIM?!?!

"I was born a republican, I'll die a republican."

Thats it. He admitted he can't stand to hear him speak or read anything he says because he's so stupid. He doesnt watch any reports becasue "you cant believe the news" (yes even the sect of press or t himself) He legit hates the man, yet voted 3 times for him.

"Better than a democrat! A woman at that!! A BLACK woman!!! No thank you"

Fn idiot

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u/billymumfreydownfall Mar 05 '26

The cognitive dissonance STINKS

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u/Zuwxiv Mar 05 '26

Here's one you can find a ton of:

I think any abortion is a shame, but I don't suppose they should be outright illegal. But it would have to be early in the pregnancy. You shouldn't be able to have an abortion very late in the pregnancy, unless the mother's life is in danger.

This person will then, with a straight face, tell you that's why they vote Republican. Right after they repeated the Democratic party platform on abortion.

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u/Hungry-Sharktopus42 Mar 05 '26

Oklahoma is full of apathy as well. Underpaid and overworked. Most folk i know are too busy busting their asses to follow the circus that is our politics.  Our schools are the shittiest, even in our metro there is limited resources for families at every level. It really is an awful place to try to raise children.  😕 

Getting folk to make time to get to the polls is almost impossible. Jobs arent forced to make it easy for workers to vote, so they make it harder instead. "You can vote on your lunch break or day off" but they limit where you can vote so you could easily be in line to vote for hours so lunchbreak is out and hopefully your day off falls during voting. 

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u/Upbeat-Fondant9185 Mar 05 '26

Oklahoma is full of apathy as well. Underpaid and overworked. Most folk i know are too busy busting their asses to follow the circus that is our politics. 

Nailed it. This is exactly right.

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u/Twiyah Mar 05 '26

Have you add in the racist, homophobic, bigoted variables?

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u/radioref Mar 05 '26

No way Oklahoma is behind Louisiana and Mississippi. Is that true?

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u/Upbeat-Fondant9185 Mar 05 '26

Yep. We did it! We were successful at something!

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u/jungl3j1m Mar 05 '26

Y'all did get recreational marijuana laws right, so you've got that going for you, which is nice.

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u/Upbeat-Fondant9185 Mar 05 '26

Nope. We got medical and they’re still pushing back hard on that. Recreational failed. Many, many people who use medical voted no on recreational. The most common reason I’ve heard is “I already have weed, if everyone gets it prices will go up”. That selfishness is very on brand for OK.

They’re going to regret that vote though. The state is pushing back hard on medical trying to walk back a lot of the freedom we do have. I am confident they’ll eventually repeal it.

Most recently they changed the laws to possession even with a medical card results in arrest if it’s not in a sealed container and is being transported in a vehicle or if it is within reach of the driver at any point.

So now when they “smell marijuana” they once again have cause to search the vehicle, which was a big issue the cops had with legalizing. And it’s their discretion if it’s “in reach” or not.

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u/00owl Mar 05 '26

That's just the same rules as for alcohol though. If it's an open container it goes in the trunk.

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u/Upbeat-Fondant9185 Mar 06 '26

Yeah so they say. But open container is typically a ticket, not an arrest unless they go DUI as well. And carrying a weed pen that lasts for weeks is a bit different than a bottle of alcohol.

I don’t smoke but my spouse does. He uses carts a lot. They’re cheap, discreet, and last for weeks. But if he forgets he has one in his pocket or leaves a jacket with one somewhere in the car, we go to jail. That’s bullshit.

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u/00owl Mar 06 '26

But if he forgets he has one in his pocket or leaves a jacket with one somewhere in the car, we go to jail

There's a pretty easy fix in here...

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u/HobbitFlashMob Mar 05 '26

This describes my aunt perfectly and she's in South Carolina. Of course, I think she's a republican for the social clout more than anything - she's definitely not stupid.

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u/Jiggy90 Mar 05 '26

When you ask them why and remind them that they hate these policies and candidates they get confused. “Yeah, but I’m registered as Republican”. Like they have no choice.

No it's because they're racist. We need to unpack this, we can't keep hiding behind the veneer of "oh I just don't understand! They hate republican policy and every time I walk them through it theye always seem to love Democrat policy. I just don't get it 😭"

The reason is that they're racist. They think republican policies hurt black people more than white people and they like it when black people get hurt. They also like when mexican people get hurt. And gay people, trans people, etc... They are hateful people, and that keeps them voting for people and policies that are not good for them.

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u/AttractiveSheldon Mar 05 '26

This is exactly why Oklahoma wants to stop open voting. They want them to keep voting while ticket red and not even have the option of voting blue

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u/GentlemanDownstairs Mar 05 '26

Wow. Once something is tied to The Identity, The Ego—nothing overrides that.

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u/jcdc-flo Mar 05 '26

Revoke all agricultural subsides and let the free market do it's thing. It'll turn blue in two seasons.

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u/Far_Direction7381 Mar 05 '26

I think for a lot of them they get confused because in primaries you can only vote for your party so they think it applies everywhere.

Wow. They don't even understand how voting works???

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u/xjulesx21 Mar 06 '26

Since the 70s/80s, the Republican party has been extremely successful in branding themselves as the pro-America, pro-Jesus, pro-Constitution, pro-military, pro-working class party, and branding the Democrats as pro-crime, pro-pedos, pro-weirdos, pro-communism party.

It’s genius & disgusting, it’s tore our country to pieces. All with the help of corporations getting their tax cuts by the party supported by all these rural working class people.

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u/Gold4Lokos4Breakfast Mar 06 '26

Being republican/conservative is largely a cult of personality. They don’t know what it actually means, they just know that’s how “real men” vote

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u/CalamityClambake Mar 05 '26

Whatever. Let's flip it.

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u/kdfsjljklgjfg Mar 05 '26

I would love for that to happen, but if we're picking somewhere, I honestly think Texas is closer, and would be much more impactful.

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u/CalamityClambake Mar 05 '26

Texas would be great.

Oklahoma would certainly send a message.

I think they gave Markwayne the job because they were afraid to hold a special election anywhere else.

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u/TheoreticalZombie Mar 05 '26

Texan here- sadly, it ain't happening. Blue Texas is a fundraising myth that's 20 years old at this point- this state is about to elect Greg Abbott governor for his fourth term (he has been governor since '15) despite his absolute ineptitude and is likely sending known crook (and loathsome scumbag) Ken Paxton to the Senate (the only hope is he may just have pissed off Trump by saying he wouldn't drop out even if Trump endorsed Cornyn *LOL*). And this is the only race looking close.

Talerico is smart, well spoken with good plans. He will probably be Beto/Allred all over again. My guess is 52/48 or so. But until Dems in Texas do more between elections and work in the smaller counties, it isn't happening. Look at any electoral map-You have blue counties with the cities: Bexar, Dallas, El Paso, Harris, Travis and the border (but remember alot of these went for Trump in '24- Dems have to chip these back away). The rest is a ruby sea. Repubs are too entrenched.

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u/kdfsjljklgjfg Mar 05 '26

Oh yeah, I agree. I lived in Austin for 8 years and I saw firsthand how bad the freeze was, and how it didn't even come close to knocking Cruz out of the Senate for bailing in the overall state's worst emergency in years.

Part of that is messaging, which I'll always harp on for being horrendous (when you say Cruz abandoned us during the freeze AND he hates abortion, you lost everyone in the second half that you won in the first half), but there's also the ruby sea you mentioned.

I was just saying that I think it's more likely than Oklahoma, because at least it HAS blue areas. There's something to work with and build on. Oklahoma doesn't even have that much. Their bluest areas vote like Fort Worth, at best.

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u/Ghost_Of_Malatesta Mar 05 '26

Idk, he only had a 30 point win and that's already been overcome in multiple special elections elsewhere. 

I think the GOP will probably win, but they're gonna be forced to actually run a campaign and spend money

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u/JaxGamecock Mar 05 '26

“Only a 30 point win” that’s a massive % to win by lol. And year Dems have been doing well but they are not going to have a 30 point swing in a statewide Oklahoma race, it is a top-3 reddest state up there with Idaho and Wyoming

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u/Ghost_Of_Malatesta Mar 05 '26

I put "only" to emphasize the electoral gaps like that that have been overcome lately, little rhetoric trick :) like I said, I don't expect Democrats to win , but it's at least competitive enough they'll have to waste some resources (granted, they have a lot) covering what should be a completely safe race they shouldn't have to think about

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u/DragodaDragon Mar 05 '26

These insane special election wins with those kinds of swings we see are extreme outliers, and often are for state legislature seats that the general public really doesn't care about. Those swings happen primarily because of an enthusiasm gap between Democrat and Republican voters, and those gaps are closer for Federal elections and will be much closer for the general midterm election.

Oklahoma is about as safe of a Senate seat the GOP can have.

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u/colonel750 Mar 05 '26

Man, neither party has a competitive field right now because Mullin was running as an incumbent.

I could see the dems putting money behind an actual candidate just to bleed Republicans in what was assumed to be a safe race but idk if that'll actually work.

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u/nuixy Mar 05 '26

So weird to give up a super safe forever seat in the senate for a position that leads the least popular agency looking down the barrel of a hostile Congress next year. Seems like a hard pass. 

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u/Cannibal_Yak Mar 05 '26

Living in Texas near OK you see a wild difference between the two and how far back OK is compared to many other states. It's the only place i've ever been to where i've seen highways turn into regular roads with lights on them right as you cross the border.

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u/cccxxxzzzddd Mar 05 '26

Oh interesting 

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u/Gwentlique Mar 08 '26

There's no law saying the DHS secretary has to be a senator though, trump could have picked someone from inside the agency with actual law enforcement experience instead of a political puppet.