What Went Wrong?

 

This is what we could have had. Love, family, and a team devoted to helping the American people.

This is what we got. Narcissistic billionaires, conspiracy theorists, sexual assaulters - all centered on benefitting themselves at your expense.

What went wrong?

Everything. Absolutely everything.

Yes, those who look at my recent posts will know I missed my election prediction by a mile. 

Truthfully, my prediction was not based on sophisticated poll analysis or other scientific data. Polls were unreliable and all over the map.

No, mine was based on gut instinct. I had faith in the decency of the American people and that they would give Vice President Harris the landslide she deserved.

I relied on the decency of our fellow citizens. I was wrong. I'm not the first person to get shot down because they overestimated the discernment and intelligence of Americans.

The bottom line is I couldn't fathom us choosing another Trump administration. I couldn't imagine enough people deliberately picking that kind of hate and destruction.

What went wrong?

There are as many theories as there are people as to why Harris did not emerge victorious. Most of them are bullcrap.

Should Biden have gotten out earlier? It wouldn't have helped. He'd be done as President, and he would not have been able to accomplish anything. The nominee that they picked would have either been Harris or somebody on the Corporate Democrat side of the spectrum.

Harris was too woke? HAHAHAHAHA! That's the silliest thing I've ever heard. Did you really listen to their campaign? We have guns! I'll shoot the burglar invading my home! We'll be tough on the immigrants! And not one word about the endangered trans community. They weren't even allowed to speak at the convention.

Harris should have gone further right? That would have been difficult. Any further right, and the Democrats might as well have picked Liz Cheney.

The economy was bad? Disregarding the power of Fox to make you believe what isn't true, the economy was about as good as it gets for at least the last fifty years. There were some problems (housing, college costs, healthcare), but anyone who thought that Republicans had any solutions were fooling themselves

Here's some that I consider to have at least some validity to them - 

1) Harris spent too much time courting the elusive disaffected Republican.

This has happened before. Much of Hilary Clinton's campaign overfocused on winning over Republicans who understood that Trump was a bad character.

It didn't work then. It didn't work now.

Granted, even I thought there was some validity to the strategy this time. Many (well, more than a handful) of Republicans stated their opposition to Trump, some prominent, some not so prominent. Surely, some of the more reasonable Republicans would choose country over party.

I knew this was a failure when I saw the Pierce County vote count. 89% voted for Trump, virtually the same percentage for every Trump election. No falloff whatsoever. No miracle conversions. Just the same percentage determined to plunge this country into a nightmarish hellscape.

2) Harris's policies were incremental rather than dramatic.

Harris overfocused on small incremental tax code changes rather than bold, transformative initiatives. This caused particular problems with the working poor and/or the noncollege educated.

I guess she thought she would lose support among moderate and right-leaning independents if she was too bold. Maybe she would have, but I don't know.

All I know is that, since 2000, Democratic campaigns have been littered with the corpses of those campaigns that refused to be bold. Gore, Kerry, and Clinton (and now Harris) all tried to trim their sails and all came up short (thanx and a hat's tip to the slave state inspired Electoral College).

We lost the working poor (mainly but not exclusively whites) when the Democratic Party did everything it could, in both 2016 and 2020, to shut down Bernie Sanders and then to ignore what appealed to his more diverse base.

The Democrats chose corporate policies over people policies. And they've been suffering ever since.

3) Too many refused to vote for a woman, especially a black woman,

This was a factor. It makes me sick to my stomach to live in a country so backward and so misogynistic that this may have been why some didn't vote for her.

And the most important -

4) I blame the American people.

Yeah. I said it. All of you who voted for Trump; those of you left it blank or voted third party - I blame you.

You know better. At least you should.

He was/is lawless.

She was/is flawless. Regardless of what was said above, she is of sterling character, ran the best campaign she could, picked the best Vice Presidential candidate I've ever seen, is the most qualified candidate of recent times, and is empathetic and caring.

And none of that mattered. None of it.

These next four years are going to be terrible.  

The best case scenario is that an adult/adults come back in 2026 and 2028 and can repair as much as possible.

The worst case scenario is that was the last election, and anything in the future will be a front and a sham, like they are in other authoritarian governments, like Hungary and Russia.  

What went wrong?

Everything. Absolutely everything.

And we're just beginning to find out what that means.

Our Darkest Day

 

This morning, in my alternating melancholy and rage, it is probably best that I don't say too much.  I am ready to burn bridges to the ground.  Not Christ-like, I know.  But there is nothing Christ-like that happened in this election.

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

2024 Final Projections: Saturday Political Soapbox 299

 

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.

A Glimpse of Better Times

 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

Top 100 Sci-Fi Movies of the 20th Century!!! Part 2 No. 93 - 87

 

 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)

The Blob

Year: 1958  IMDb: 6.3 Tom: 6  Had I seen before?   Yes  Service found on: Max

Not too bad, but kinda cheesy (blobby?). A growing blob threatens a small town, slowly rolling towards threatening more and more citizens. Only a small group of teenagers try to wake everybody to the menace, led by a young, intrepid Steve McQueen (not looking too much as a teen at 28 years old). One of the most popular themes in these kinds of movies is to have the alien defeated by something otherwise common. This dates back to at least H. G. Well's book The War of the Worlds.

92)

Enemy Mine

Year: 1985  IMDb: 6.8 Tom: 6  Had I seen before?   Yes  Service found on: Prime Rental

A war between an alien race and humans results in one of each being isolated on a remote planet. The two sworn enemies find themselves trapped with each other, and over time, their initial hostilities are replaced with grudging respect and interdependence and, gradually, a devoted friendship. I try very hard to ignore that the human, Dennis Quaid, has become a Trump supporter, but in the spirit of the movie, I do my best to look past it. Louis Gossett Jr. is amazing as the alien.

91)

Things to Come

Year: 1936  IMDb: 6.6 Tom: 7 Had I seen before?   No  Service found on: Prime 

I am a great fan of H. G. Wells, especially when I was younger. This movie is prophetic in parts, but like any movie set in the future, it doesn't always hit the mark. Its predictions are even more impressive when you consider that they were originally written in 1933 and predicted the effects of World War II, atomic weapons, pandemics, and more. It is dated but enjoyable.

90)

Akira

Year: 1988  IMDb: 8.0 Tom: 8 Had I seen before? Yes  Service found on: Hulu

I had the privilege of seeing this at an Atlanta movie theatre when it first came to the United States. Although I am not a hater of anime, I am not a superfan, but this movie is the exception that proves the rule. It is an awesome story set in a post-apocalyptic Tokyo, where young teens are experimented on to disastrous results.

89)

Cocoon

Year: 1985 IMDb: 6.7 Tom: 9 Had I seen before? Yes  Service found on: Library Rental

Trying to find this movie slowed my progress considerably. It's not available on any streaming service, and getting a digital copy to own or rent is impossible. I requested it from my library, and it took a week or so to locate it, but they finally located a copy for me. Remember that - don't forget about your friendly local public library!

This film is a great favorite of mine. Elderly men find that bathing in a pool near their nursing home has rejuvenating properties—they now feel young and energetic. 
They share the pool with alien cocoon entities. They gradually meet and befriend the aliens shepherding the cocoons.

To me, this movie is extra special in that the seniors are given the opportunity to travel to the alien's home planet and live forever. In virtually every other movie I've seen, those offered eternal life would turn it down. Spoiler alert!  - in this movie, it's different!

Another interesting anecdote is that one of the senior citizens, Wiford Brimley, was just 49 years when the movie was filmed!

Don Ameche (winning Best Supporting Actor), Hume Cronyn, Wilford Brimley

88) 

They Live

Year: 1988 IMDb: 7.2 Tom: 9 Had I seen before? Yes  Service found on: Peacock

Another all-time favorite of mine! I am a big fan of director John Carpenter, and this is one of his best! Set in the near future, the movie shows a world where the gap between rich and poor has increased (talk about prophetic!), and one of the downtrodden, Roddy Piper (of wrestling fame), finds a pair of glasses that allow him to see the world as it really is. And yes, most of the rich are actually alien invaders! Or, well, frankly, many of the Republicans. John Carpenter made clear that this movie was an extension of what was happening under Reaganism.

And guess what? Minus the aliens, that's about what's happened!

87)

eXistenZ

Year: 1999 IMDb: 6.8 Tom: 4 Had I seen before? No  Service found on: You Tube

I had to watch this on YouTube in 10-minute segments. It didn't help make this movie any better. As big as a fan I am of John Carpenter, I am apparently the opposite with director David Cronenberg. I guess I'm just not a big fan of random guts and body parts. This has something to do with the otherwise talented Jennifer Jason Leigh leading Jude Law through one of her reality game simulations. A huge mess that made little sense to me.

I hate to end this on a down movie, but it did include some gems like Cocoon and They Live.

Next edition!  - more of one of my least favorite directors, and another Trump-loving actor. But then it gets better - I promise!

Nobody Moves!

 

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.

Back to Political Basics

 

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.