dr. suess, mr. potato head and distracted voters

 I had a really interesting conversation with my mother the other day.  We were talking, as we frequently do, about current events.  She was wondering why there are so many people in mostly red states, but all over, who consistently vote against their own self-interests.  It had brought to mind an instance I have talked before about a conversation with a conservative friend in the west who was railing against the passage of ObamaCare while it was being debated.  When I pointed out to my friend that her family needed something like ObamaCare as it would provide benefits to her grandchildren they otherwise would not be entitled to, her response was to tell me she would pray they would not get sick.

Anyway, Mom was musing about why people would vote for politicians who would push legislation that would deny them health care, or that would indeed prevent them from getting proper care, such as vaccines or just outright make them sick, as in refusing to impose common sense mask mandates.  In times of crisis, we both wondered why anyone would vote for a politician who would approve tax cuts for billionaires who do not need them while denying a raise in the minimum wage, that even if passed would not completely allow some people to afford basic rights such as decent housing and a meal.  We will not even get into the fact that nobody denies that ordinary people may need a lift nowadays, such as the stimulus payment that not a single republican in either the house or the senate voted for, and then decried as a "partisan bill".

Yet folks out there voted these people into office, and will undoubtedly vote them in again.  Steven King may be gone, but Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, Jim Jordan, Matt Gaetz and their ilk are still there, and will remain after the next election cycle, or be replaced by others of the same mindset.

And this happens over and over again.

Why?

Why do those who clearly do not believe that government should stand by and do virtually nothing in a crisis vote for those who will do exactly that and will not lift a finger to help anyone but themselves and their rich benefactors?

I think the answer is in the fact that if nothing else, the modern republican party has become the masters of distraction,  This hides their true intent, their intrinsic evil.  While George Floyd is being smothered to death, these are the guys who are pointing to the skies and yelling about Halley's Comet.

So you end up with an unemployed, uninsured white male in Kansas voting for somebody who will deny him any benefits or assistance, because that candidate will vote to prevent late term abortions, even though our Kansan friend and his family and friends, will never get an abortion at all, and will likely not know anyone else who will.

And you end up with a low wage fast food worker in Iowa who will vote for somebody who will deny her the right to an increase in her take home pay, because that candidate will vote against allowing Central Americans fleeing violence in their countries from entering the United States and seek asylum, even if she has never met anyone who speaks only Spanish in her entire life and will never be at risk of such a person "stealing her job".

And in more recent turns of events, you end up with people getting hysterical over Mr. Potato Head, Dr. Suess and the Dallas Mavericks decision to eschew playing the National Anthem before basketball games, instead of asking how Texas could freeze and utilities in the state charge thousands of dollars PER WEEK to provide basic heat to their citizens.

So why do voters on the right do this over and over and over again?  I have known many of them over the years, and on the surface they seem like decent and very likeable people.  I have called many of them friends.

I believe the answer lies in what has been referred to as American's Original Sin, and others refer to as "fear of the other".  In the most crass and brazen terms a politician has ever used to explain how Americans vote, Lyndon Johnson crystallized the entire mess, when he explained:

"If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket.  Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you".

And there you have it.

And there it is and will always be until we address this first.

And you can bet that the GOP will be out there calling the rest of us racists when we bring this up and scream instead about Colin Kapernick and the Dixie Chicks (ok, "The Chicks") instead.

our disgrace

 January 6, 2021 will go down in history as the date a president of the United States tried to stay in power by inciting an insurrection in which five people, including a law enforcement officer, were killed.

February 13, 2021 will go down in history as the date the United States Senate let him get away with it.

And make no mistake about it.  It was both sides of the aisle that let him get away with it.  Pay no attention at all to what the vote for or against conviction was.

Up until a few years ago, I would frequently act as a judge in collegiate mock trial tournaments.  One of my pet peeves was that the students would meticulously build up their arguments, and just when they got to the point where they were on the precipice of hammering it home, they would just assume everyone knew where their argument was leading and stop, figuring that the jury would know what to do with what had been handed to them.

The house managers and senate democrats did exactly that today, just as they have done so for years.

Anyone who practices law knows that the only way to convince a jury is to bludgeon them with the facts.  Subtlety, as I have told the unfortunate college student attorneys who have had me as a trial judge, does not work.  It has not worked in the past.  It is not working now.  It will not work in the future.  You must put your jury in a position in which they have no choice but to vote in your favor.

In this instance, the only way you were going to get the senate republican jurors to vote to convict would be to outrage the American public with the facts of the insurrection so badly that the republicans would fear for their jobs so much that they would have no choice but to convict him.

And that required witnesses.

Lots of them.

All of them.

I thought the house managers had finally gotten it right this morning when they moved to call Jaime Herrera Butler, the G.O.P. representative who was going to testify as to the conversation had between Kevin McCarthy and cadet bone spurs in which the cadet made it clear he did not care if the mob got to all the congressmen and the vice-president in the Capital on January 6, 2021 and did whatever to them.  Remember, a gallows and noose had been erected on the Capital grounds by the mob.  Rep. Butler literally begged for other patriotic G.O.P.ers to come forward, assuming there were any.  We now know there are a total of seventeen.  Ten in the House who voted for impeachment.  Seven in the Senate who voted to convict.

I really thought we were headed somewhere when the Senate voted to hear witnesses.  The only way to get a conviction here was to have Rep. Butler testify, followed by anyone who volunteered to testify about the events of the day, followed by Kevin McCarthy, and ultimately followed by Mike Pence.  By then, the outcry would have been such that I have little doubt that the G.O.P. would have begun believing that to save their hides, which is the only thing they really care about, they had to convict.  The only way cadet bone spurs would get out of it would be if there was no testimony.

And the democrats caved.

They agreed to a stipulation that what Rep. Butler had said the night before about the conversation between cadet bone spurs and Kevin McCarthy was true in exchange for her not being called to testify and that no other witness would be called either.  Considering that the G.O.P. simply wanted no witnesses at all, they got exactly what they wanted.  They could now vote to acquit on the grounds that there was no jurisdiction to even try cadet bone spurs even though that vote had already been taken and jurisdiction established, without addressing the merits of anyone's testimony and dealing with the potential ire of the public.

And the democrats let it happen.

So what if the republicans would have tried to call "one hundred witnesses". 

LET THEM.

I bet every one of the witnesses they wanted to call, including Nancy Pelosi, Kamala Harris, Hilary Clinton and Casey Stengel for that matter, would have been more than happy to comply, testify and pour even more fuel on the ex-president's funeral pyre.  I for one would have also been entertained by Casey Stengel testifying considering his performance before the Kefauver Committee sixty years ago.  We all know what the G.O.P. did today was a bluff.  They were not going to call a single witness, even Nancy Pelosi or Kamala Harris, because they could not afford to allow them to continue to bludgeon cadet bone spurs, which is exactly what would have happened, which would have put them all in a position in which to save their own seats they would have eventually had no choice but to vote to convict.  So they huffed, puffed and bluffed.

And the democrats fell for it.

I am beyond disgust.

They should all rot in hell.

Even the democrats.

the constitution is dead

The United States Constitution is dead.

Well, maybe not dead, but it certainly is on life support.

And make no mistake about it, the cause of death is Donald Trump and his enablers in the federal and state governments, as well as the right wing media.

We have long known that Donald Trump (yes, for this one I am actually going to use his name.  While this is not a legal document, indictments require use of actual real names) has absolutely no regard for the United States Constitution.  Want proof?  Look no further than Trump International Hotel in Washington, where foreign governments and dignitaries have been lavishing business ever since he took office, billing the government for layovers at his properties overseas and here in the United States, especially at Mar-a -Lago, n clear violation of the Emoluments Clause.  His response is to refer to the "Phony Emoluments Clause" and claim that as president he is immune from prosecutions and civil lawsuits.  Notice, he does not claim that he has not been profiting off of all of this.

The phony Phony Emoluments Clause.  You know, the one that has been part and parcel of the Constitution since it was written at the birth of the nation in 1787.  Clearly, the founding fathers wrote the Phony Emoluments Clause into the Constitution two hundred and thirty-seven years ago with the thought of getting even with Donald Trump all these years later.

For perhaps a more controversial example, I point to the Good and Welfare Clause, which requires him to care for the good and welfare of the people.  No masks.  No urging of masks to protect yourselves.  No urging of social distancing.  Modelling that shows he does not care a whit about the good and welfare of the people.  On top of everything, word has spread that anyone left in his government who dares to even hint at helping the incoming administration in a smooth transition of the government will be fired, including members of the coronavirus task force, from whom critical information is going to be needed to distribute potential life saving -- no, society saving -- vaccines.  No financial assistance to those in dire need in these critical times.  No attempt to even try to come up with an aid package.  No fire side chats.  No words of comfort to an increasingly desperate populace.

Nothing.

And then there is the outright blatant attempt to steal the election.

First he tried, with the assistance of Mitch McConnell and Lindsay Graham, to pack the federal judiciary.  He made no bones about what he was doing, outright saying he wants the election to go to the Supreme Court, where he figures his three appointees will take his side in the fight.  Thankfully, thus far, no court, no justice has ruled in his favor on any of the phony issues he has raised to date.  Funny thing.  Even most arch-conservative judges have some sense of moral integrity and take their oaths of office seriously.

So when you bring ridiculous claims before the courts backed up by nothing, these judges will do their duty and uphold the law as written, just as conservatives say they should.

And it's not like they have not repeatedly had the chance to make their case.  Remember, just prior to the election, Trump and his minions sued in Pennsylvania to exclude absentee ballots, before any such ballot had even been cast, on the grounds that they were rife with fraud.  The judge in that case, a Trump appointee, set a deadline in the case for Trump and his gang to produce any evidence of such fraud.  The case was then dismissed when not only was no such evidence produced, but THEY DID NOT EVEN TRY.

And now, case after case around the country has been dismissed because when confronted with the requirement in any case to produce evidence backing up your claims, Trump and his minions have failed to produce ANYTHING.  In some of the cases, the attorneys involved, knowing of the disciplinary consequences their license and therefore their livelihoods may be facing have either moved to dismiss their own cases or have withdrawn from representing the Trump, the Trump campaign, the RNC, etc.

So all legal avenues shutting off in front of him, he is now resorting to calling in republican state legislators to bully them into refusing to certify state election results so that he can have faithless legislators appointed in those states against the will of the voters, who will presumably vote to put him in office when the electoral college meets.

In other and plain words, HE WANTS STATE LEGISLATORS AROUND THE COUNTRY TO DISREGARD THE WILL OF NEARLY EIGHTY MILLION VOTERS, MORE PEOPLE WHO HAVE EVER VOTED FOR A CANDIDATE IN ANY PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN OUR ENTIRE HISTORY AND APPROXIMATELY SIX MILLION MORE VOTES THAN HE GOT, SIMPLY TO STAY IN POWER AND TO SATISFY HIS UNQUENCHABLE EGO.

The 12th Amendment of the Constitution sets forth how the electoral college is appointed and how it is to vote, at least in terms of the mechanics.  For the 12th Amendment to work as intended, it is assumed that there is a certain level of good faith that must be observed.  While it does not specifically state so, it has always been assumed that the electors from each state will vote as the popular vote in their state dictates.  Indeed, earlier this year, the Supreme Court validated that very concept in a unanimous decision.

So now, he has called Michigan legislators to the White House to discuss appointment of faithless electors.  This after he called republican members of the Board of Elections to bully them into trying to change their votes to certify results in Wayne County.  For some reason, the legislators are going to Washington, although their doing so at least hints that they are going to change their long standing statements in public that they will appoint electors who will vote the will of the people in their state.

And not a peep from congress. 

Oh, Mitt Romney has blasted what is going on, but we all know that the president will never listen to any criticism of Mitt Romney.  Nothing from Mitch McConnell.  Nothing from Lindsay Graham.  Nothing from any g.o.p. senator or congressman.  No indication that anyone with the ability to stop this is going to try.

As noted above, the 12th Amendment requires the good faith of our elected officials in order to work.  If there is no good faith, there is no 12th Amendment.  In turn, if that happens, there is no legitimately duly elected government.

And if all that is allowed to happen, the United States Constitution is dead.

and the winner is...

By now, it should be clear to just about anyone who is paying attention that the only way to stop the spread of the virus, or at least slow it down before vaccines which are showing promise are generally made available to all of us is to have a uniform national response that all, or at least so much of society follows as to effectively flatten the curve.  That includes the usual calls we have come to hear for mask wearing, social distancing, etc.  As the virus proliferates, it includes banning the type of social gatherings where the virus is likely to be spread, which unfortunately includes many businesses and gathering places that we all enjoy patronizing.

By now, we have also become used to the anti-mask, anti-lockdown you cannot tell me what to do crowd, as they tout their right to make the rest of us sick and question the efficacy of just about any common sense method touted by medical experts to slow the spread.  These folks apparently believe that individual responsibility is what counts, regardless of the fact that once anyone shows any irresponsibility, it increases the risk for everyone else.  We all know that there will always be irresponsible people out there for whom nobody can tell them what to do no matter what.

But I now give you the clear winner of the debate:

A friend who lives in the middle of the country recently commented on restrictions the governor of the state this friend lives in had just imposed.  The friend challenged anyone to show where any such restrictions had resulted in a flattening of the curve or any measurable success in dealing with the virus.

In the county where I live on Long Island, we had such restrictions in place since the early days of the pandemic in March, eased a bit during the summer and now slowly being reimposed.  Our positivity rate as of yesterday was 3.49%, which we consider to be terrible.  The rate in my friend's state as of this morning was 15.6%.  While I did not comment on that particular post, as it would result in nothing more than the usual gang from the right coming down on my neck, the comments posted after my friend's challenge crystallized what the rest of us are dealing with.

The highlight; frankly, one of the dumbest statements I have ever seen, came from the genius who posted that he was fully protected from the virus by his second amendment rights.

I repeat.  He thinks the second amendment protects him from contracting the virus.

There are sane people who reside in this part of the country.  One of them asked midwest gun guy what part of the virus he planned on aiming at when he pulled out his high tech weaponry.  In response, midwest gun guy replied that if a mask can stop the virus, he can stop it with a gun.

He thinks he can shoot the virus.

I repeat.  He thinks he can shoot the virus.

Who knew?

How could all of our doctors, researchers, public health specialists and scientists have gotten it so wrong?

And why aren't our soldiers, national guardsmen, sheriffs, police departments, highway patrolmen, state and local militias and neighborhood watches out there protecting us?  For that matter, where are the second amendment enthusiasts, private militia gangs, the you can't take my guns away and you can't tell me what to do crowd?

Any minute now, I expect to hear a veritable fusillade of bullets from our duly appointed law enforcers and patriots whizzing past my windows, followed by street cleaners driving by to clean up the remaining bodies of dead viruses in the street.

Any minute now...

Any fucking minute...  

ruth

The mother of an old and dear friend passed away last week.  Ruth -- I will use only her first name to protect the privacy of the family -- was the kind of person who you could only love.  She was a completely devoted wife, mother, grandmother and friend.  Back in the stone ages, when I was in college, she was the one who would occasionally host her sons' friends and provide us with a nice home cooked meal around a large and boisterous dinner table.  She was a loud, loving, boisterous and sometimes profane sounding person, who left a mark on all of us.

I am told that she is also a statistic that our present administration would just like to forget exists, but cannot in the long run ignore.

Ruth was diagnosed with Covid back in March.  While she made an initial recovery, there were debilitating effects which required her to undergo extensive physical therapy.  Several months later, in the course of her recovery, she suffered a severely broken leg in an accident that required a number of surgeries.  After each one, my friend tells me he could see her strength ebbing.  Indeed, about a month ago, on the occasion of my birthday, my friend told me Ruth was fading away.

He also told me he blamed cadet bone spurs.

No, he did not blame him for Ruth contracting Covid.  She could have caught anywhere from anyone or anything.  Instead, he blamed him for his callous response to a pandemic that has resulted in vast numbers of unnecessary deaths.  He blamed him for creating a task force manned not with experts in epidemiogy, infectious disease and public health, but with political sycophants who appeared to be more interested in protecting the president's image than in finding a cure or therapeutic.  Most of all, he blamed him for minimizing the virus and the count of those who contracted or died from the it so as to make himself look better, Ruth now being one of those.  Ruth's death certificate may state that her cause of death was complications from her numerous post-accident surgeries, but my friend and I agree that Covid-19 was a contributing factor.

In this time of political and cultural polarization, we must not lose sight of the fact that the casualties of this time are mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters and friends to all of us.  Ruth was one of them.  Minimizing death counts, calling them fake news and demonizing anyone who tries to say otherwise is an insult to the memory of all of the victims, such as Ruth.  Please remember that before you start your daily rant against everyone who does not necessarily believe as you do.

And please remember to wear your mask outside and social distance as possible.  Do it for Ruth and my friend's family.

May Ruth's memory be a blessing.

the election by the numbers

 You can break down just about anything by the numbers, so I figured I would take a crack at the election.  I am not getting into the obvious numbers here, such as 45, the number of presidents who have served this country -- well 44 and then the present occupant of the office -- or 270 of 538, the number of electoral college votes needed to win the election.  Let's take a look at some of the more interesting and illuminating numbers.  Where possible, I have provided links to the source of the numbers.

19 -- as in Covid

0 -- purportedly the number of times cadet bone spurs has attended a meeting of the coronavirus task force in the past several months.  

https://www.axios.com/fauci-trump-hasnt-been-to-covid-task-force-meeting-in-months-7b05721c-d670-400e-8540-2316c18553e7.html

Also the number of vaccines that are presently available to the public.  While I do not have a precise count, it is noted that cadet bone spurs has predicted any number of times that a vaccine would be ready before election day.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/16/trump-says-he-thinks-us-could-start-distributing-a-coronavirus-vaccine-in-october.html

https://fortune.com/2020/09/04/trump-vaccine-election-day-race/

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-09-17/will-a-vaccine-be-ready-by-election-day-trump-and-scientists-disagree

54 -- The number of times he downplayed the virus in public, in spite of the fact that he knew how deadly this virus was at the time, as evidenced from the Woodward tapes.  We note that this is undoubtedly a low number as it comes from a source in May of this year.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/politics/the-fix/54-times-trump-downplayed-the-coronavirus/2020/03/05/790f5afb-4dda-48bf-abe1-b7d152d5138c_video.html

234,218 and 1,188,211 -- Number of covid-19 deaths in the United States and worldwide as of early morning, October 30, 2020.

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

545 -- Children forcibly separated from their parents at the border with Mexico and never reunited, in spite of court orders to expedite reunions.  It is reported that the organizations attempting to reunite these families believe it is never going to happen.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/lawyers-say-they-can-t-find-parents-545-migrant-children-n1244066

0 -- The number of tax returns he has released.

1 --  The number of audits his tax returns are presently undergoing -- at least, this is what he admits to.

$70,000 -- Amount of deduction he is said to have claimed for one year of having his hair made up daily.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/06/business/trump-taxes-hair.html

$21,100,000 -- Amount of deduction he claimed on his 2015 tax return as a nature conservancy claim for not developing his Seven Springs Estate in Mt. Kisco, NY.

https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2020/09/eric-trump-westchester-compound-tax-write-off

$130,000 -- Hush money payoff to porn star Stormy Daniels.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-cohen/fbi-documents-point-to-trump-role-in-hush-money-for-porn-star-daniels-idUSKCN1UD18D

2010 -- The tax year of the audit he claims is preventing him from releasing his tax returns.  The audit is said to have begun in 2011. 

3 years from date of filing, and then 1 year afterwards -- The amount of time the IRS has to bring an audit of a tax return, and then the average time it takes to complete the audit.

https://www.freshbooks.com/hub/taxes/how-long-do-irs-audits-take#:~:text=After%20you%20receive%20the%20Internal,are%20completed%20within%20a%20year.

$400,000,000 to 1,000,000,000 -- The range of debts owed by him coming due within the next few years.  We presently do not know exactly to whom this money is owed and the source(s) of the original debt(s).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wealth_of_Donald_Trump#:~:text=Trump%20has%20a%20total%20of,reported%20Forbes%20in%20October%202020.

The total may have been more; however, it is reported that he negotiated forgiveness of approximately $281,000,000 of that debt.  Once again, we do not know the original source of the debt, although it appears to have been related to a failed Chicago real estate venture, and what the creditor(s) may have gotten in return for the debt forgiveness.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/lenders-forgave-287-million-in-unpaid-debt-by-trump-report-11603844181

$750 -- The amount he appears to have paid on his federal income tax for 2017 and 2018.  He claimed at the last debate that he only paid this much because he prepaid his taxes.  Here's a hint to cadet bone spurs and to those who do not know.  When you "pre-pay" your taxes, the amount of money you pre-pay must be included on the tax return.  This is how the total amount of the taxes is calculated; therefore, they must be on the return even if "pre-paid".  This would even include taxes you paid in a previous year that would go towards the tax assessment in the year of the return.  In other words, when he said his reflected tax liability is not accurately reflected on the 2017 and 2018 returns because he pre-paid his taxes, he was either blissfully ignorant of what is included in any tax return, or he was lying.

Speaking of lying...

22,247 -- The number of proven lies he has told since assuming the presidency.  This number is undoubtedly too low, as it comes from a Washington Post article noting that the tally is from August 27, 2020.  The post indicated that he was averaging about fifty lies a day.  One wonders how many lies it would be if he did not have to take breaks to eat and go to the bathroom.

7 -- Number of presidential advisers who have been indicted.  This is as of August 20, 2020.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/08/20/how-many-trump-advisers-were-criminally-charged-steve-bannon-makes-7/5616793002/

I suppose we could go on and on with further numbers associated with the election, but at this point, you get the point.  So I leave you with one final number:

4 -- more years of this?  

Really?

the quiet before the storm

My next door neighbor here on the north shore of Long Island has put up a Trump sign on his front lawn, just a couple of feet from the curb.

Frankly, I do not care.  It is entirely within his rights to put up a sign in support of whatever candidate he supports, even if that candidate is cadet bone spurs.  The sign itself is one of those very small unobtrusive things that look like it could be blown over by a moderate breeze -- you know, just like cadet bone spurs himself.  I do not know how long the sign has been there.  My wife and I only noticed it about a week ago.  Since then, I have noticed that the sign is primarily hidden from the public by a car that parks directly in front of it on the street just about every day.  I do not know if the car belongs to my MAGA neighbor or somebody else.

Why the neighbor has put up the sign this time around is not entirely known.  While  I do not recall him placing signs on his front lawn in past elections, even the last one in which cadet bone spurs was running, I suppose it is entirely possible that he did, and I simply did not notice.  I do know that there has been an influx of Hispanic families moving into the neighborhood over the past several years, including one immediately next door on the other side of MAGA neighbor and one across the street.  I would hope that this is not the reason he chose to erect his sign this time around.  Along this line of thought, however, I would note that we have a friend who lives in the next town over.  This friend is Chinese.  A neighbor of hers, who lives across the street, has placed a large sign on a telephone poll on the edge of his property, accompanied by a number of flags in various states of disrepair, directly across the street from her, pointed directly at her front door, which among other gems, states, "This is America.  Speak English", and if that wasn't clear enough, "Boycott all Chinese Take Outs".  Our friend does not own any Chinese restaurants that we know of.  Another friend, also Chinese, who lives on the other side of Long Island, tells us she has been getting, to put it mildly, chilly receptions from neighbors when she placed a Biden Harris sign in front of her house, in what appears to be a mostly cadet bone spurs neighborhood.

I am sure that none of the MAGA types involved here think they are bad people, and I am willing to concede that some, if not most of them are not.  I do not know the neighbors of my friends.  I do know that our south shore friend tells us that she has gotten along well with the neighbors in the past, and is still mostly friendly with them.  I have not been buddies with my MAGA neighbor over the years, and have never been in his home in the thirty some odd years we have both lived here.  I admit I am a terrible neighbor, as for the most part, I do not even know the names of the people who have lived for years directly around me, including MAGA neighbor, who has lived next door the entire time.  I have exchanged pleasantries with MAGA neighbor over the years.  We have lived in peace in the neighborhood, which is a middle class one in which the neighbors smile and wave hello whenever you see them and do help each other out in a pinch.  It is all I have ever wanted in my neighborhood, and I expect it to remain that way, even after November 3.

Given the sign on MAGA neighbor's lawn, my wife and I took a drive around the community yesterday to survey electioneering signs in a radius of about a half a dozen blocks all around us.  The results were rather surprising, considering that we have seen many signs throughout the years in connection with dozens of elections ranging from national to local.  We note that MAGA neighbor's sign was the only cadet bone spurs sign in front of any house we saw.  I do not know if we should feel honored to live right next door to the only such sign in the community.  On the other hand, while there were about a half dozen signs in total for various candidates in various races, there were only two Biden/Harris signs, both of which were on the same block just around the corner from our house.

We do not believe our neighborhood is any less into the election or any more or less politically involved than any other neighborhood.  We do believe there is a certain feeling I am not yet ready to categorize as fear that people do not wish to make their political feelings known this time around for fear of attracting retaliation from neighbors or those just looking for trouble.  Not putting up a sign on your lawn is a small price to pay in order to protect your lawn or your home from vandalism or worse.  There have been reports around the country, if not necessarily in this neck of the woods, of people having signs stolen or set on fire right in front of their homes.  I have little doubt what the reaction of the neighbor of our friends in the next town would be to her putting a Biden/Harris sign on their front lawn pointed at the neighbor's house, although if her sign contained a large print menu, it might be fun to film the neighbor's reaction.

So the signs stay in the shed or the basement, and folks quietly go about their business, perhaps making calls or sending e-mails and texts to help get out the vote, which are mostly done anonymously, perhaps making plans for surviving the election and the days that follow, which is somehow what we have come to.  Instead of making plans to celebrate our country regardless of who wins the election, we are looking at election day as a sort of armeggedon.  I half expect the four horsemen of the apocalypse to come charging down the street in front of the house at about midnight November 3.  There is half a thought that MAGA neighbor will come roaring from his house with an AR-15 if cadet bone spurs looks like he is going down in flames, even if I do not know if he owns any weapons at all.

I would love to be out at the ranch where there are no neighbors on election night, but we are here.  We will hunker down with our freezer filled with supplies to last for a few weeks and our kerosene heater to keep the first floor of the house warm.  We will hide in the basement if we have to.

And we will pray like mad that cadet bone spurs will slink away quietly, as will his supporters.