True in so many ways. One of the members of The Blonde's sorority died a few weeks back and I always remember the 50th birthday party they threw her with all the sisters getting up and dancing to "We Are Family".
Same with the election. Suddenly we have brothers and sisters and friends we never knew we had. I don't usually say stuff like this, but I feel so honored to have been an even infinitesimal part of it all.
MamaM's post has inspired me to write a post that I have been thinking about for a while. This blog has been part of my life for longer than I can remember and I have encountered some remarkable folks here.
First and foremost, the late, great Chip Ahoy. He has been gone for years now but his work, both here and IRL, sticks with me. He was as creative and productive a human as I have ever encountered. When his brother posthumously posted links to works Chip had not posted here I was blown away - what a wide range of interests and what a remarkable set of skills he had. I am sure he is greatly missed by everyone who knew him.
Next, of course, The Trooper - now there is a guy who has been shouldering a mighty load here. He needs to pop up and post more of his writing, and I am sure he will in his own good time. I want to know how some of those stories turn out!
The other day I read about two new super heavy elements - 119 and 120 - ununennium and unbinilium respectively. I would have named the latter unobtainium, but that name is already taken. That story reminded me of our resident chemist and grammar genius, Chicklit. I miss his writing and I hope he is doing well with his new venture and in his new location. Every time I saw some aromatic White Oak or apply some Waterlox to a finished product I am reminded of him.
Evi L. Bloggerlady, the floofy red cow who got his name from the sobriquet that Trooper applied to a certain communist blogger still comments and blogs. He's a funny guy.
Various commenters here have popped up on other sites - I used to see RicPic's comments over at Instapundit, but I haven't seen his name over there in a year. Michael Haz still shows up occasionally, which is good. The woman from Colorado who is now known as Hunter'sHooker still comments over there - she's pretty funny.
Others have disappeared into the ether of the internet. TT Burnett - gone. The woodworker up in Maine, no trace of him.
And so it goes with life.
One of my classmates just returned from a visit to Minnesota and she brought me some wild rice that is produced up in Bemidji - guess what I am having for supper!
*Update - I forgot to mention that I have now met two people associated with this blog in real life - as you might imagine, they are awesome people. Carry on!
A special shout-out to the One Who Set Up This Blog & the Mostly Quiet One who keeps it running. I'm grateful for both. Also deeply appreciative of the cartoonists whose Art & Insights helped me keep faith. Having the opportunity to look for and freely post material that allowed me to express what I was experiencing, was key in making it through the last four years of Deceit, Challenge, Peculiarity & Wonderment. I'm also thankful for the One Commenter & Sometimes Poster who faithfully finds something to add to the mix, along with the many silent 1's & 2's who stop by to take a look. It's been quite a run, with much to celebrate as we enter into another era of Resolve & Restructure, Challenge & Change!
OK, Trump has his 312 electoral votes, which includes no less than 8 states flipped. All things being equal, an impressive win.
But things might have been better. Jason Meister, Trump's polling guru, thought he'd hit between 308 and (are you ready?) 400 electoral votes. Insane, you say? Well, when you consider he came very close in Jersey and pretty close in, of all places, IL, it may not have been so crazy, after all.
For a laugh, I made a list of states the Trump campaign thought doable and, yeah, it would have made 400.
NY - 28
NJ - 14
NH - 4
ME - 4
NM - 5
CO - 10
VA - 13
MN - 10
Next time somebody tries to tell you there was no vote fraud in '20, hit 'em with the graphic from this clip from Sundance. Much like the WMDs in Iraq turned out to be real, '20 really was stolen.
PS For the record, 258 million people eligible to vote in '20; 168 million registered to vote in '20; turnout is supposed to be 66%.
Fake News says Trump got 74 million votes; Idiot got 81 million. 155 out of 168 is ~90%, not 66.
Do.
The.
Math.
PPS The last election with 60% or better turnout was 1960. Also, the only other election where the "winner" didn't carry OH. Usual turnout is ~50%.
Not gloating here, but it just occurred to me.
There's an old truism in American politics that you can't win the White House if you don't win OH. 2 people are claimed to have done this. One was Jack Kennedy. Richard J Daley had to bring in the graveyard vote for his pal, Old Joe Kennedy. The other was the lying dogfaced pony soldier who needed 7 states to manufacture millions of fake ballots* at 4AM.
Now consider this. Jack Kennedy was assassinated. Brandon's mind and physical abilities deteriorated to the point that they needed body doubles to cover for him. If Laura Loomer is right (and I think she is), he's either dead or in an extended care facility for what's left of his life.
Maybe God metes out his own justice.
* Off Gateway This may explain some pundits wondering where 15 million Democrat votes went.
PS FWIW If NV, AZ, and AK come through, he'll finish with 312 electoral votes.
It ain't over till it's over.
Keep that in mind. Remember what happened on J6. Those people just wanted an audit of the vote and came to DC to exercise their Constitutional right to peaceably assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
They didn't hurt anyone; that was the work of the Ice Cream Queen's Sturm Abteilung.
They did not break in to the Capitol; they were let in.
They did not destroy anything, that was the work of the Ice Cream Queen's provocateurs; in fact, Ashli Babbitt smacked one of them in the head when he tried to break up stuff on the Ice Cream Queen's desk (it's on tape).
We can only hope she, Roseanne Boyland, Kevin Greason, and Benjamin Philipps get the justice they so richly deserve.The only insurrection was that of the Democrat party.
That said, never forget that, until we hear the words, "I, Donald Trump, do solemnly swear...", this is a long way from over. Several Democrats have promised they want to find a way to derail Trump ever entering the White House. I think using the 34 counts won't fly since a NY appellate court tossed the convictions, but they'll try something.
Stay tough. Stay strong. Stay alert. Be thankful.
And, oh, yes, I love the smell of schaudenfreude in the morning.
Today's article on "Election Day 2024: What's Going To Happen? And How Did We Get Here?" by Andrew Stiles, in the Washington Free Beacon, lifted my mood. I appreciated his summation along with his conclusion, with his final, bottom line statement, "It's going to be OK", what I've committed to believe and hold going forward.
After reading edutcher's post and link on outrage, hate and destruction, I looked up hate to find the picture/graph below. It fit with my own understanding of hate as a combination of anger, fear and shame compressed into outrage and resentment to result in hate as an attempt to hold on to a sense of power. Hate is inwardly corrosive, outwardly destructive, and addictive in that it temporarily fills a void yet constantly needs to be fed. What to do with it when it shows up is the question?
It's not that long a read, but it encapsulates something I've said here and elsewhere on more than a few occasions. It's the latest column by Sultan Knish and it expands on something I've noticed.
To be a good Lefty, you have to be a good hater.
Greenfield has taken a few of Thomas Sowell's thoughts and developed them into a full thesis. Read it and I think you will be nodding your head in agreement as I did. It reminds me of Dwight Eisenhower's line after he'd seen Buchenwald - "I want every man who isn't on the line to see this. They say our men don't know what they're fighting for. Well now they're going to see what they're fighting against".
PS Anybody hear about Peanut the Squirrel? If so, that is the kind of petty, jack-booted government the Democrats have been practicing since Waco.
Ike would understand.
