40-some GOP congresscritters were retiring, either ahead of the expected "Blue Wave" or else opting to take the money and run, aware at least at some subliminal level that this business about "Draining of the Swamp" probably meant them.

It's become almost commonplace to report that Paul Ryan and the rest of the leaders of the Country-Club GOP then proceeded to lose the House majority pretty much on purpose, by the simple expedient of neither recruiting high-powered candidates, nor adequately funding and supporting the candidates they DID have, in some 39 contested races, particularly in "blue" states like California.

Is that counterintuitive — that the GOP leadership would WANT to lose the majority? Not at all.

The ongoing stunt of these one-trick ponies for 30 years now is to win election by vowing to "secure the border," clean up vote fraud (Did you know surplus Massachusetts Democrats can vote in swing-state New Hampshire — where they have a far better chance of shifting some electoral votes — by simply driving across the state line and saying "I plan to move up here next year"?); halt illegal immigration, repeal socialized medicine ("Obamacare") and replace it with a free-market system providing better incentives for doctors and other "health care providers," etc.