There will be a temptation to understand and forgive those who did this, and the analysis will be endless.
I don't care about the analysis. I don't care about considering forgiveness.
What has been done is unforgivable.
What has been done will do horrible and irreversible damage.
And there is no way of getting around that.
There will be more later as I try to restore rationality to my temper.
But for now, I write the most terrifying words I have ever written -
The Trumpocalypse Continues
This is my final 2024 projection for the 2024 election!
The above is my overly rosy projection for the Electoral College.
My less rosy projection is Harris 328 and the fascist 210.
Something's happening, and the polls aren't always catching it. Some polls are sponsored by and skewed by one party or the other (although to be honest, this is mostly a MAGAt game). Others are misapplying lessons learned in prior elections. Pollsters always overadjust. This time they are underestimating the furor of women and the youth vote. They are overestimating MAGA-style Republicans.
This does not include the fact that many people are no longer answering their phones. Even text messages are left unanswered. I had one pollster try to message me several times. I looked up the organization polling and decided it was not legit.
Examples of a trend towards Harris - the highly reputable Iowa Poll that showed her winning Iowa by 3 points! Also interesting was the Kansas poll that showed Harris within five points! The last time a Kansas election was within five points was in 1896! The last Democrat to win Kansas was LBJ in 1964! Heck, FDR lost Kansas in 2 out of his four races! The fascist won Kansas by 15 points in 2016 and 11 points in 2020. What kind of seismic shift must be occurring for Kansas to be almost in play?
2024 HOUSE
My house projections:
Rosy: Democrats 236 Republicans 199
Less Rosy: Democrats 226 Republicans 209
I am confident that Hakeem Jeffries will be the Speaker of the House for the 119th Congress. I'm less sure of the margins. However, I would not be surprised if the final numbers are even rosier than I suggest!
I would love to see a Congress without Boebert, MTG, and Gaetz. However, that may be difficult because they are in very red districts. Of the three, Boebert is the most vulnerable.
2024 SENATE
My Senate projections:
Rosy: Democrats 54 Republicans 46
Less Rosy: Democrats 51 Republicans 49
These numbers are with all the Independents caucusing with whom they really belong.
The Senate is the one I'm least sure about and makes me the most queasy. Because of the seats at risk, with Democrats having to defend the most territory, the natural course of events favors the Republicans.
If the Republicans control the Senate, it would be a disaster. No one will get confirmed, leaving hundreds of vacancies. No legislation would pass, even bipartisan legislation. And I am afraid, with the Harris administration able to get little done, the 2026 backlash will be ugly, with morons blaming Harris rather than the Republican Senate.
The Republicans that I most want gone include Cruz of Texas, Scott of Florida, and Hawley of Missouri.
I am sorry. I cannot picture a scenario where the Orange fascist wins. But if he does, I fear for the nation. I fear for the world.
The MAGA fascist movement, the Christian nationalists, the billionaire bros - they all must be stamped out. Or at least neutered.
There were some tough times.
That was inevitable with how history flows - it's not always a smooth course. There are always steps forward and steps back. You just have to hope you're lucky enough to live in a time when the forward steps exceed the backward ones.
Finally, in the deep twilight of my life, I feel blessed to have seen us progress towards a brighter future.
I thought we would never get a handle on global warming. And we didn't. Not completely. But it's nowhere near as bad as it was in the late twenties. We finally did the right things, moving to renewable fuels and taking better care of the Earth.
Sadly, poverty still exists. But very few live in starvation and misery, and we've ended the Age of Billionaires. Population peaked and stabilized, and we've learned much about sustainable agriculture.
In 2033, we finally gained true universal health care, thanks in large part to the efforts of President Ocasio-Cortez and the Progressive majority. Electoral reforms, such as the elimination of the Electoral College and ranked-choice voting, universal voting registration, increases in the Congressional delegation (Senate and House) based on population, the outlawing of legislative gerrymandering, increasing the Supreme Court to 13 (matching the number of circuit courts) and limiting their terms to 18 years, all of these increased the democratization of the American experiment.
Education flourished as public universities were made free, and critical thinking skills took preeminence at our public schools. Public libraries became central, parks were prioritized, and urban planning was implemented to beautify many cities, including the blooming of urban gardening.
People were free to love who they wanted. Gender and sexuality were a brilliant rainbow. Diversity was respected and enriched us all. We were no longer a white majority country, and except for a stubborn few, that made the country richer, more tolerant, and more loving.
With the essential safeguards in place, people felt more secure in becoming entrepreneurs, pursuing their dreams, and making the nation a rich patchwork of businesses and enterprises.
At times, it looked like Christianity would be a thing of the past. But once the domination of the Christian Nationalists was broken, the Christian Progressives took center stage, and now Christianity is stronger and more purposeful than ever. The power of love and inclusivity, the desire to bring us closer to heaven on Earth, proved to be more potent than the power of hate and exclusivity.
As I sit here, on my porch in the Catskills, overlooking the beauty of nature, here in 2113, I look back to the early days when I was a child and my parents who fought so hard to end the country's teetering toward fascism, and the remarkable turnaround that began with the election of our first female President (amazing to think that it's been almost seventy years since our last male President), I see a world that is far from perfect but is so much better than it could have been.
God bless President Harris, and god bless all who voted for her. You made my world so much better.
Love to all,
Pastor Retta Strait
I received this issue of Remind, or what Alison calls "my old people magazine," which ranks the top 100 Science Fiction movies of the 20th century.
Remind does have many pop culture stories, focusing primarily on the 1950s through the 1990s, although there are some references to earlier decades. Each issue focuses on different topics, such as country music, westerns, where are they now issues, and much more I enjoy it, as I love pop history. They also have puzzles and a monthly guide as to what's on TCM (Turner Classic Movies).
I thought it would be fun to see the movies on the list in reverse order and see what I thought of them. The magazine's ranking of the movies is not mine.
I won't go into detailed reviews, but I will share the IMDb ranking and my own on a 1 to 10 scale.
94)
 |
| Don Ameche (winning Best Supporting Actor), Hume Cronyn, Wilford Brimley |
It's hard to say that Hilary lost when she won the popular vote by about three million. Nevertheless, because of the antiquated antics of the electoral college, the most disgusting man in America ruined American History and assumed the American Presidency.
In that campaign, Ms. Clinton spent an inordinate amount of time trying to woo "disaffected Republicans." Yes, many of them were disgusted by Trump and initially supported other Republicans. They sounded pretty adamant against him. But in the end, 99.9% of them came back home to roost, held their noses, and voted for the orange conman.
In my own sphere, I had a co-worker who did not like Trump, would participate in my anti-Trump rants, and voted for another very conservative candidate in the primary. I had no idea until much later that he voted for the narcissistic racist in the general election. It was a great shock, and I did not react well. I felt my whole world built on people being rational crumble. After that, we never talked about politics.
Hilary Clinton wasted a lot of time and energy trying to win over the unwinnable and needed to spend more time trying to recapture the otherwise nonpolitical Bernie voter. In my opinion, these were the voters who could be won over, those who did not traditionally vote or always vote Democratic.
In 2020, when four years of the incompetent fraudster should have convinced many in the conservative base of how bad he was, there still was great resistance to switching. I did not talk to my co-worker about it, but I knew he had a Trump sign in the cabinet in his office. Biden won decisively, thanks to a large turnout, overcoming Trump winning more votes than he did in 2016.
In the present. Kamala Harris has made a big deal out of winning over disaffected Republicans. I'm not sure how that's going to go. At least this time, she has a plethora of Republican figures supporting her, including the VERY CONSERVATIVE Cheneys, military generals, and most of Trump's cabinet; if you worked with him, you knew he was a POS.
How will that work this time? There is some hope she will gain more ground than Hillary Clinton did — the anecdotal evidence leans that way. Fortunately, that is not the only thing Harris is doing. She is appealing to the Democratic base and Independents as well. As an independent progressive, I am way fired up in a way that even exceeds my disdain for TRUMP/VANCE/PROJECT 2025. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz is the best choice I could imagine for Vice President.
In my own sphere, looking back on the last nine years we've lived with the sour reality that so many blindly support a fascist, I'm thinking hard if I know personally of even one person who had supported him who has since changed their mind.
Granted, I live in a 90% Trump county. It's not socially acceptable, or even safe, to publicly express opposition to him. But people know where I'm at and how I feel. You think at least one person could slip me word that they are now off the Trump reservation. But I've never heard that, not in nine long years.
Do you know anybody who was once for Trump but now disavows him? You don't need to name names. Just let me know - is there any hope? Is there anyone you know who moved out of the fascist darkness?
I really want to know.
It's a strange season.
Many of you have already voted. It's difficult to know how much persuasion is warranted. Some of you have already voted for the future of American democracy. Some of you have already made the biggest mistake of your life.
In my personal world, I have seen little change or movement. For nine years, the lines have remained relatively solid. Nothing has been more discouraging and disappointing to me than my failure to persuade a single, solitary soul.
So, enough about the monstrous shortcomings of the orange conman. None of you who are enthralled with him are willing to peek behind the curtain. The only thing left is to pray that the quirks of the Electoral College and the crafty manipulations of those who don't believe in democracy leave us with an unthinkable situation.
Once again, let me list the positions that are most important to me and who I feel will help the most. This will be brief, and it is important to note that I am picking those who represent it best, even if they are not the ideal.
1) Climate change/global warming is happening now, not just in the future. We need to do everything in our power to mitigate and slow the damage that is already underway. HARRIS/WALZ is the team to slow this.
2) This country should have universal health care, ideally a single-payer plan. HARRIS/WALZ may only get there partially, but they'll make more progress than the other side (who are more likely to increase the cost and reduce the number covered).
3) The increasing gap between the wealthy and the working class needs to be reversed. HARRIS/WALZ have policies that will help close that gap, and start to reverse 40+ years of Reaganomics greed is good philosophy.
4) Public resources, such as public schools and libraries, need to be cherished and financed. HARRIS/WALZ will support and strengthen them.
5) My view, based on my faith, is that national borders mean nothing. God loves us all, and we should love all. There is no special relationship between God and any country. In that view, immigration means nothing. All jobs should have a living wage, and if Americans aren't willing to do them, then they are fair game for others to come in and do. Nobody deserves to be paid a wage they can't live on, regardless of where they come from. To be clear, nobody in politics represents this radical view. But I do think the HARRIS/WALZ will not focus on demonizing and dehumanizing immigrants.
6) College costs need to be brought under control, and that means more federal and state involvement. HARRIS/WALZ will move us in that direction.
There are many other issues I could address, but that is a start. I haven't addressed foreign policy, but rest assured, HARRIS/WALZ are the best. They won't abandon Ukraine, and although I'm not happy with how we're dealing with Israel's violence in Gaza, I do think Harris/Walz is more persuadable than the Orange Cheeto, who just wants Israel to "finish the job."
I can't think of a single issue where TRUMP/VANCE/PROJECT 2025 would be better for the country. Actually, all their positions would move us to an authoritarian fascist state.
But, apparently, some of you are perfectly happy with that.
And that scares the crap out of me.
Really, I knew well before then. From the 80s on, I was aware that he represented the worst of America. His bankruptcies, his fraudulence, his racism, his misogyny - all was clear to anyone even paying half attention.
Descending (both physically and verbally) into the darkest corners of American racism and xenophobia, calling Mexicans criminals and rapists (talk about mirroring and projection!), I did not think this narcissistic buffoon would be no more than an extremist footnote on our body politic.
Boy, was I wrong.
A great swath of the American people disappointed me - again and again and again. Every day was a new low for this scamming blowhard, and every day, those who should know better overlooked it and stuck with him.
Thanks to our minority-enshrining Electoral College, Trump blustered his way into the White House. Having lost the popular vote by THREE MILLION meant nothing to him. It meant nothing to his supporters. I swear to you, had it happened the other way around, the Electoral College would have been shredded by now.
His President, by all measures, was a disaster. He inherited an excellent economy from Obama, and over the course of three years, he slowly ebbed it away. The Covid disaster covered up how much the economy was deteriorating before then. So some still get misty eyed for the return of the Obama economy.
We have been in a vicious cycle for the last forty-four years. Republicans destroy the economy, and then a Democrat has to come in to restore it (Clinton, Obama, Biden). And yet, polling indicates that a majority of people think Republicans are better at the economy. Ah, the enduring power of Reaganesque propaganda!
However, the economy is only one of Trump's problems. He has demonized and divided since Day One. And his lack of Covid response resulted in the needless death of hundreds of thousands of Americans. We had quantifiably the worst response to COVID-19 on the planet. He turned wearing masks and social distancing and vaccines into a political issue instead of community health care. Many of us simply stopped caring about each other. I'm not sure I'll ever get over many's warped, selfish response to Covid.
He illegally did everything he could to steal an election and insert himself as a defacto dictator. You say that Vice President Pence is endangered by the mob I incited? As Trump said that day when told - "So what?"
It has been so hard. I live in a 90% Trump county. It is not comfortable to live here. You must be very careful who you speak to and how you speak. In person, I sometimes have a fierce temper when confronted by lunacy, so I have to be extra careful. Right or wrong, I have less hesitation when writing.
Every day has been wrenching. Every day, even now, I hope people around me, some of whom are otherwise decent, will wake up and say, "Tom, you've been right all along. Trump is a monster, and I'm no longer going to vote for him."
I see posts on social media that show former Trump supporters who no longer will back him. But in my own life? I don't know a single one. It has been a long, bitter wait to see any Trumpeteer I know return to the fold of Democracy.
It's so hard to accept. They don't want democracy—whether it's fascism, authoritarianism, or Christian nationalism—whatever they want to call what is, in essence, the same thing—they're all for it. And it is so hard to see the breakdown of the civic compact that is supposed to bind us all.
I just pray that this nightmare comes to an abrupt end on November 5th.
If it doesn't ... I'm not sure what to do. My heart and spirit will be broken.
This is my most heartfelt message to the Trumpeteers in my life: Please wake up. Please return to the diversity and civic strength that are the best of America.
I can't take more sleepless nights.
P. S. It is impossible to list in any one post all the rotten things Trump has done. Please look at my label, Trumpocalypse, to get a fuller picture. Or, just get your head out of the right-wing bubble.
