Bush takes blame for GOP election losses (November 2006)
www.cnn.com

... President Bush on Wednesday took responsibility for his party's losses on Election Night and said he is willing to work with congressional Democrats on the major issues during the last two years of his presidency.

"I'm obviously disappointed with the outcome of the election and, as the head of the Republican Party, I share a large part of the responsibility," Bush said during a East Room news conference at the White House.

"I told my party's leaders that it is now our duty to put the elections behind us and work together with the Democrats and independents on the great issues facing this country." (Read a transcript of Bush's comments)

On Tuesday, Democrats picked up at least 28 seats in the House of Representatives, giving them control of the chamber for the first time since the Republican sweep in the 1994 midterm elections. (Full story)

Bush said he had called Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi, who is expected to become the first female speaker of the House when the new Congress begins in January, and the Senate's Democratic leader, Harry Reid, and congratulated them on their success Tuesday night. ...

How is each state represented in the Electoral College?
usafacts.org

... One way to think about electoral representation is to consider how many people each electoral vote represents, based on a state's population. According to 2023 population estimates, one electoral vote in Wyoming accounts for around 194,000 people, while a vote in Texas, Florida or California accounts for over 700,000. ...

Justice Department Drops Lawsuit Against California Over Alleged Noncitizen Voters
www.mediaite.com

... The Department of Justice has dropped its bid to sequester 20,000 ballots it claimed may have belonged to noncitizens in California, claiming a Nov. 13 court date in the case made the entire thing pointless.

The DOJ sued the Golden State in October, claiming 20,0000 noncitizens were on the state's voter rolls after alleging local officials were refusing to work with them on the issue.

But it later became clear the Justice Department's data was flawed, and numerous courts rejected the DOJ's arguments. ...

Flock Safety launches new AI-powered tools to accelerate police investigations (February 2026)
www.police1.com

... Flock Safety has announced the release of new AI-powered tools designed to help law enforcement agencies streamline investigations, integrate data across systems and improve efficiency in identifying criminal activity.

Flock Nova, a new AI-powered data platform, is designed to help law enforcement agencies analyze information more efficiently and clear cases faster.

Investigators often work across multiple, disconnected databases, delaying case progress. Flock Nova integrates data from Flock's own devices, Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD), Record Management Systems (RMS) and open-source intelligence, consolidating information into a single interface.

The platform also allows agencies to share CAD and RMS data across jurisdictions with an opt-in agreement, improving coordination in multi-agency investigations. ...

Flock Cameras Are Tracking More Than License Plates: Here's Where All That Data Goes (June 2026)
www.bgr.com

... Deployed across more than 12,000 communities, Flock Safety's automated license plate readers (ALPR) are a key player in America's ever-growing public security and surveillance network. The AI-enabled camera provider has rapidly expanded its products, functionalities, and customer base, creating a vast network of video cameras, audio detection devices, drones, and mobile security trailers.

This expanded offering is powered by AI algorithms that process far more than drivers' license plates, recording vehicle profiles, pedestrians, and "critical sounds" such as gunfire.

Given the breadth of this intelligence, it's no surprise that Flock Safety has pivoted toward a big data model, offering interconnected, searchable systems. But aside from its undeniable safety benefits, some critics increasingly see it as a national, AI-driven mass surveillance network. ...

Eels - Mr. E's Beautiful Blues (2000)
www.youtube.com

Obama Humbled By Election 'Shellacking' (November 2010)
www.npr.org

... A sober President Obama acknowledged Wednesday that he took "a shellacking" in the midterm election and that his once highflying relationship with the American voter had hit rocky times.

"There is an inherent danger in being in the White House and being in the bubble," said the president, whose party on Tuesday lost control of the House in a historic Republican wave. The GOP is expected to gain at least 60 seats, the biggest increase in more than seven decades. Democrats barely clung to their Senate majority.

"The responsibilities of this office are so enormous," Obama said, that "sometimes we lose track of the ways that we connected with folks that got us here in the first place."

Working With Republicans

The president, who drew comparisons with midterm losses suffered by presidents Reagan and Clinton during their first terms, pledged to work with GOP leaders on issues ranging from tax cuts to modest forward movement on energy policy, ...

A different approach than Pres Trump seems to be taking ...