Blue Shift
Seeing the light - hope getting closer
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In physics, a “blueshift” is “the displacement of the spectrum to shorter wavelengths in the light coming from distant celestial objects moving toward the observer.”
Maybe America too is seeing the light…
Election 2025
The election results this week certainly show a shift to the blue, as Democratic candidates and measures won huge victories.
California’s Proposition 50, the Golden State’s effort to counter the highly partisan gerrymandering actions by Texas and other states, passed by a nearly 30-point margin. [1] I’ve written about how the GOP is clinging desperately to power [2] and the need to fight the battle we’re in, so I’m glad to see California voters aligned with this view: [3]
As a principle, we should have fair redistricting everywhere. However, if one side chooses to undermine these principles, as the national Republican Party has done this year, the costs of holding to these principles weaken the very principles themselves. They are worth fighting for – now is not the time for a strongly worded letter.
2025 Proposition 50 vote in California. From NBC News [1]
Other big election victories for Democrats included:
New York Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani winning the New York City Mayor race, receiving over 50% of the vote in a three-way race and beating former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo by 9 points [4]
Statewide offices – Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General – all went to Democrats by big margins; former Congressmember Abigail Spanberger won by 15 points [5]
Congressmember Mikie Sherrill won a decisive victory for New Jersey Governor by 14 points [6]
In fact, Virginia showed a massive shift to Democrats this week. The Virginia House of Delegates, the 100-member house in the state’s General Assembly, saw 13 seats flip from Republican to Democrat. Where Democrats had a 51-49 advantage before Tuesday’s election, they now look to hold at least a 64-36 majority. [7]
We shouldn’t discount how big a shift this is and the message being sent. For example, the Virginia House of Delegates results would be equivalent to national Democrats winning 57 seats in the House of Representatives – for comparison, the 2018 “Blue Tsunami,” sweeping Democrats to control the House in Trump’s first term, saw a net gain by Democrats of 40 seats. [8] Imagine something nearly 50% bigger…
Here is a visual map of the shift toward Democrats in every county across Virginia relative to the 2021 gubernatorial elections. [9]
Democratic vote shift by Virginia county in 2025 elections. From Washington Post [9]
“Sandwich Guy” Acquitted
After failing to secure a felony indictment against a guy “throwing a salami sub at a Customs and Border Protection agent in Washington, D.C., at close range,” [10][11] Trump’s Justice Department filed misdemeanor charges against former Justice Department employee Sean Dunn (now known as “Sandwich Guy”); he was acquitted this week, and NBC News reporter Ryan J. Reilly seemed to have fun writing his articles on the case: [12]
Jurors showed no appetite for the Justice Department's case against "sandwich guy," the D.C. resident who chucked a Subway sandwich at the chest of a federal officer, finding him not guilty Thursday after several hours of deliberations.
The jury — which feasted on sandwiches for lunch Thursday, according to a person familiar with jury lunches — deliberated the charges for several hours Wednesday and Thursday before delivering the verdict.
[Emphasis added]
One of my favorites came when reporting on jury selection: [13]
A jury was selected Monday in the trial of former Justice Department employee Sean Dunn, also known as the “sandwich guy,” months after he went viral for throwing a salami sub at a Customs and Border Protection agent in Washington, D.C., at close range.
Prosecutors hit Dunn with a misdemeanor assault charge in August. That came a day after U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office failed to persuade a grand jury to indict Dunn on felony charges — a SUB-optimal result for prosecutors.
[Emphasis added]
U.S Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro has been having a particularly tough time lately; her D.C. office attempted and failed to secure a felony indictment against protestor Sidney Reid “a shocking three times.” [14]
[In August] a federal magistrate judge held a preliminary hearing and found probable cause that Reid violated the assault law, 18 U.S.C. Section 111(a)(1). The judge gave the government until Monday afternoon to secure an indictment.
Monday afternoon came and the government filed not an indictment but a notice to the court. It said not only that “an Indictment has not been returned in this case” but, incredibly, that “a third grand jury returned a no true bill.” A true bill is when the grand jury votes to indict.
This is not normal.
Indeed, it’s unusual for a grand jury not to indict any case, though it happens. Twice is rarer still. Three times is a sign that things are fully off the rails.
Pirro’s office eventually charged Reid with misdemeanor assault charges, because these charges didn’t require grand jury approval. Reid was acquitted of the misdemeanor charges. [15]
You can read the original Department of Justice press release here. [16]
Certainly, these are examples for why our jury system is so critical to preventing government overreach and abuse of prosecutorial power.
Trump v U.S.
In a future newsletter, I want to go deep on why I believe Trump v U.S. is, quite possibly, one of the worst decisions made by the Supreme Court. I thought at the time that it would eventually rival the Plessy v Ferguson and Dred Scott decisions, notoriously viewed as the worst in the nation’s history, [17] and this sentiment is shared by people whom I respect, such as The Atlantic’s Adam Serwer [18][19] and the New York Times’s Jamelle Bouie. [20]
Our self-governing framework recognizes that everyone in their various roles are humans – Supreme Court justices are not legalistic robots; they are people. And humans make mistakes in their reasoning when pressures mount among ambitious, strong-minded people to achieve their desired outcomes.
I think this is one of those times where feelings are overcoming facts [21] - and now is the time to push back. Unfortunately, these arguably poor legal decisions are contributing to the uncivil war in which we are engaged. [22]
The best system for preserving our way of life and continuing to move it forward is to have multiple checks and balances, since, as James Madison wrote from Federalist No. 51 “[a]mbition must be made to counteract ambition.” [23]
I haven’t started watching this yet, but I’m super interested in this new Apple TV series that’s received 100% rating from Rotten Tomatoes for its debut. [24] Here’s an overview from Wikipedia: [25]
Pluribus (stylized as PLUR1BUS) is an American post-apocalyptic science fiction psychological thriller television series created by Vince Gilligan for Apple TV. The series stars Rhea Seehorn in the lead role, who previously worked with Gilligan on the AMC series Better Call Saul.
Set in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the series follows author Carol Sturka, who is one of only twelve people in the world immune to the effects of "the Joining", resulting from an extraterrestrial virus that had transformed the world's population into a peaceful and content hive mind (the "Others").
GIF Game
Congrats to the Los Angeles Dodgers on winning the World Series!
Go Blue!
Notes and Sources
[1] “California Ballot Measures Special Results 2025,” NBC News, retrieved November 9, 2025, https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2025-special-elections/california-ballot-measures
[2] Mic Farris, “Routes to Power,” September 7, 2025, https://www.micfarris.com/articles/routes-to-power
[3] Mic Farris, “Political Prosecutions and Frogs,” October 12, 2025, https://www.micfarris.com/articles/political-prosecutions-and-frogs
[4] “New York City Mayor Results 2025,” NBC News, retrieved November 9, 2025, https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2025-elections/new-york-city-mayor-results
[5] “Virginia Governor Results 2025,” NBC News, retrieved November 9, 2025, https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2025-elections/virginia-governor-results
[6] “New Jersey Governor Results 2025,” NBC News, retrieved November 9, 2025, https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2025-elections/new-jersey-governor-results
[7] Markus Schmidt, “Blue wave rebuilds the House: Democrats soar to at least 64 seats in Virginia,” Virginia Mercury, November 4, 2025, https://virginiamercury.com/2025/11/04/blue-wave-rebuilds-the-house-democrats-soar-to-at-least-64-seats-in-virginia/
[8] Herry Enten, “Latest House results confirm 2018 wasn’t a blue wave. It was a blue tsunami.,” CNN, December 6, 2018, https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/06/politics/latest-house-vote-blue-wave
[9] “Virginia governor election results 2025,” Washington Post, November 5, 2025, https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/results/2025/11/04/virginia-governor-results/
[10] Ryan J. Reilly, “Grand jury declines to indict man who threw a sandwich at federal officer in D.C.,” NBC News, August 27, 2025, https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/grand-jury-declines-indict-sandwich-guy-threw-sub-dc-federal-officer-rcna227464
[11] Megan Lebowitz and Ryan J. Reilly, “Jury selected for the trial of D.C.'s 'sandwich guy',” NBC News, November 3, 2025, https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/jury-selection-begins-case-dcs-sandwich-guy-rcna241563
[12] Ryan J. Reilly, “Jury acquits D.C. 'sandwich guy' charged with chucking a sub at a federal agent,” NBC News, November 6, 2025, https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/dc-sandwich-guy-verdict-rcna242142
[13] Ryan J. Reilly, “Grand jury declines to indict,” August 27, 2025
[14] Jordan Rubin, “Jeanine Pirro’s office fails three times to convince grand jurors to return indictment,” MSNBC, August 26, 2025, https://www.msnbc.com/deadline-white-house/deadline-legal-blog/jeanine-pirro-washington-indictment-rcna227190
[15] Jordan Rubin, “Not guilty verdict in ICE case sends stark message to Trump DOJ’s political prosecutions,” MSNBC, October 17, 2025, https://www.msnbc.com/deadline-white-house/deadline-legal-blog/sidney-reid-not-guilty-verdict-ice-trump-doj-rcna238137
[16] “Woman Who Tried to Impede Transfer of Alleged Gang Member to ICE Custody Charged in Assault on FBI Agent,” United States Attorney’s Office, District of Columbia, press release, July 23, 2025, https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/woman-who-tried-impede-transfer-alleged-gang-member-ice-custody-charged-assault-fbi
[17] Mic Farris [@micfarris], Threads, October 12, 2024, https://www.threads.com/@micfarris/post/DBCA_9mS-Pm
[18] Adam Serwer [@adserwer], Threads, July 24, 2024, https://www.threads.com/@adserwer/post/C9zuevqRvZw
[19] Adam Serwer, “The Supreme Court Fools Itself,” The Atlantic, July 24, 2024, https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/07/roberts-supreme-court-2024-term/678983/?gift=Je3D9AQS-C17lUTOnl2W8HTJc6zxeC9JCPdNDN9_Tz4&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
[20] Jamelle Bouie [@jbouie], Threads, July 24, 2024, https://www.threads.com/@jbouie/post/C9zw0v4JV3J
[21] Mic Farris, “Feelings over Facts,” August 2, 2025, https://www.micfarris.com/articles/feelings-over-facts
[22] Mic Farris, “Battles in an Uncivil War,” June 7, 2025, https://www.micfarris.com/articles/battles-in-an-uncivil-war
[23] James Madison, “The Structure of the Government Must Furnish the Proper Checks and Balances Between the Different Departments,” The Federalist No. 51, February 8, 1788, retrieved November 9, 2025, from https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/fed51.asp
[24] Mireia Mullor, ”Breaking Bad creator's new show Pluribus debuts to a 100% Rotten Tomatoes score as viewers say its first episode is ‘one of the best pilots in recent memory’,” Total Film, November 7, 2025, https://www.gamesradar.com/entertainment/sci-fi-shows/breaking-bad-creators-new-show-pluribus-debuts-to-a-100-percent-rotten-tomatoes-score-as-viewers-say-its-first-episode-is-one-of-the-best-pilots-in-recent-memory/
[25] “Pluribus (TV series),” Wikipedia, retrieved November 9, 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluribus_(TV_series)
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