Election

 Well, I guess I'm ready to vote.  Most of my choices were settled months ago, but there were some local elections and ballot questions to research.  Yeah, I even look up Judges and School Board Members...

The Judges are just "retain or not",  I was pleased to find that the 3 current ones had excellent credentials and experience and were on the defense side in the past.  I'd rather have a guilty person get off once than an innocent person imprisoned.

The School Board election was easy enough.  Maryland has 4 year terms.  The one at-large is elected in presidential years, and all the other in the mid-cycle elections.  This was an at-large election, so it was easier.  One had experience, emphasized science and teacher-training, and suggests "slow-retirement of teachers so they can mentor the new ones.  The other (as far as I can tell) manages a day care center.  Nothing wrong with that, but apparently has little actual school-management experience.

That left the 2 ballot questions.  One was for encoding women's reproductive care into the State Constitution.  I'm going for that without any hesitation.

The other was more complicated.  All about changing the County Government.  The choices were the current form ("home rule"), and a  "charter" form with more county-wide consolidation of organization.  I visited 3 sites discussing them and still couldn't really understand the consequences.  But 1 site showed a map of the State counties showing which each had.  The 3 counties I think are best-run all had the "charter type".  The 3 most conservative (and kind of "run-down") counties all had the "home rule" system.  So I'm going with "charter".   Might as well advance with the times and what seems to work best...

Voting

I love to vote.  And in fact, I love to go to the voting place on Election Day.  I voted by mail-in ballot in 2020 and afterwards it felt like I hadn't actually voted.  The process seems to be important to me...

I walk in and go straight to a table where a election official asks my name, address, and birthdate.  No line!  Prints out a small slip of paper which I sign and take to the next table.  

That person exams the printed slip of paper carefully (even though he clearly saw the clerk next to him produce it).  He asks if I want to vote by machine or paper (I choose machine) and he creates a longer slip of sturdier paper which will record my actual votes.  No line!

I go to the machine side of the room.  No line!  I am amazed some people want paper ballots (no line there either).  I hate filling in little circles with a pen, but some appear to prefer that.  Which is fine.  I like the touch screen machine; it is so easy.  

I have my sample ballot all filled out at home.  I research every choice a week ahead, right down to School Board and Judge of The Orphan's Court.  Referendums especially; some of them are written to be confusing, but a little internet work literally explains each one sentence by sentence.  And I check the sources of the explanations, too.  No political party or "cause" organization sites; Newspaper "fact-checker" and .edu sites are usually good.

So there I am comfortably seated at the touch screen.  First choice was Governor.  And it wouldn't accept my vote.  Huh?  Then I notice a box that says you must view all the candidate selections first".  Oh, because of 3rd/4th/5th/6th party candidates, it took 2 screens to show them all.  Talk about the election system trying to be as fair as possible!  So I do that, make my choice again, and move on through all the various elections.

After I have voted in all of them, I get a display showing all my choices.  I have to review them and confirm my choices (in case I made an error in one).  Another example of the Election Officials trying to be as fair as possible.

My State (Maryland) is wonderful about election fairness and accuracy.  We have no "hanging chads" here.  

When I confirm my choices, the machine prints out the results and returns it to me on the paper I initially inserted.  I take that to the last station, where I scan it in.  It confirms my choices have all been successfully registered.  The person there gives me an "I voted" sticker.

I was in and out in 10 minutes!

But I want to say it wasn't always like that.  When I moved here in 1986, my County Government was majority Republican.  Even back then, they didn't really much like or trust voters.  My 1st couple elections, they forced all voters in my town (of about 30,000) to vote at one high school.  The line was hideous and it took 4 hours!

And they liked it that way.  They recognized that more and more people from the Washington DC suburbs were moving to the County and they weren't mostly Republicans.  They (we) were escaping the high cost of housing, higher local taxes, etc.

My own town basically exists as a bedroom community of people who commuted to jobs in and around Washington DC.   If you saw a map of the town, you would see a semi-circle with the flat edge against the County line.  Everyone wanted to be close as possible to work but in "one County further away", LOL!

The result was that, after 10 years, my County became Democratic-majority voters and Democratic-governed!  The voting situation changed almost immediately.  Instead of 1 voting place in 1 high school (in my town), they set up a dozen smaller ones.  And with more voting booths.  The voting line went from 4 hours, to 30 minutes, to 10, and now 0.

I am not especially  dedicated to Maryland.  There are many other fine places to live.  I'm here because my parents lived in Maryland (Dad's job sent him here) and I simply went to the State University (and stayed around).  But I'm glad I did.

Equally, I am sure that some States have good voting systems too.  But some don't.  If every State's voting system was like Maryland's (or at least my County's), voting would be a lot more easy, fair, and accurate.  And that would be A Good Thing!

Keep in mind that I am not praising the elections results (though Maryland is a solidly Democratic State) so much as I am praising the voting process it has established.  We did after all, elect a Republic Governor for 2 terms (sensible moderate and rational guy).

But mostly, I wanted to say what a wonderful voting experience I had today, and why...

The Night Before Election Day

A poem expressing my concerns the time before Election Day in the US... 

"Twas the Night of Election Day

As I paced through the house.

Would we get back to normal, the old voting way

Or would Donald steal it, the Cheating Old Louse?

 

I knew that the polls

On MSNBC

Had the Biden team goals

Being granted, you see.

 

But that's what I thought

In '16, when we "won"

But Hillary still lost what most of us sought

So I won't count my chickens until the last one.

 

Cuz Donald makes Tricky Dick

Seem like a nun

Saying he'd cheat the People with legal stuff sick

By saying the voting was over afore it half-done!

 

He said he would do it

Then said it was fake

And when shown the recording a bit

Said "Let them Eat Cake".

 

And spent 15 minutes

Defending you see,

What he claimed he had not said

To the cameras and we.

 

The businesses all boarded

Their windows today

In expectance of armed crazies with guns all aloaded

If Electoral College count drives Trump away.

 

They will say it is fake news

Conspiracy proven

The Deep State and Anti-Fa fears fanning their illusions

Of being the majority as the Biden's prepare move-in.

 

Or maybe tis I to weep who shall

Weep deep bitter tears

At the end of our laws and see autocrat gall

Replace freedom and voting for may yet years. 

 

Ben Franklin once said

When asked by the crowd,

If we had democracy, monarch, or dread

You have a Republic, defend it or be cowed.

 

Republics are fragile

Just ask the Old Greeks

Or the Romans who had some experience a while.

Nothing good lasts for long, go and vote or be weak.

 

So I pace the floor watching

The news of the day.

I think that the outcome will likely be fetching

But I won't be relaxed for many a day.

 

It takes time to count ballots

Mail-ins take some time.

And Trumpians are trying legal tricks quite lots.

But I think that when Electors meet, Biden gets the dime."

 

Elections Are Frustrating Here

I live in Maryland, USA, which is so overwhelmingly Democratic the past few decades that it almost doesn't matter whether I vote or not.   The State Electors will be voting for the Democratic Presidential Candidate even if half the Democrats didn't bother to vote.  And my own Congressional District has Congressman House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer representing it and he is so overwhelmingly popular that he isn't even challenged seriously. 
When I moved to this County, it was somewhat Republican  but new arrivals from nearby Washington DC changed that competely.
Can you tell from that who I support?  Not really.  I could be a happy Democrat or a frustrated Republican.  As it happens, I started out as a Republican (though a progressive one) in the 60's.  Just for info, non-conservative Republicans tended to be called "Progressives" and non-conservative Democrats were called "Liberals".  There wasn't much difference but Progressives were a bit more economically "middle". 
The Nixon political inversion (he made Democratic Dixiecrats" Republican) chased me away.  It was a close call back then.  Unions were TOO powerful but Dixiecrats were MORE too racist.
I don't actually indentify with "party", but I've been forced to vote Democratic since Nixon from lack of ethical choices.  I supported 3rd Party Candidate John Anderson in 1980, but it was so hopeless by Election Day, I didn't bother to stand in the 3 hour line to vote (voting has become much faster since then).
Yeh, I vote Democrat.  It hasn't even been any hard decision.  Bill Clinton was better than Bush I , Al Gore was better than Bush II, Obama was better than McCain (hard decision as McCain was always honorable and trustworthy) and Romney had that election-killing "47% speech".
I thought Hillary Clinton was a walk-in against Trump.  An experienced Senator and Secretary of State VS an inexperienced sexist racist buffoon.  Easy choice and I settled in front of the TV to watch the blowout. 
OMG!  Election night 2016 was a horror show.  I was so horrified that I considered leaving the US.  But I had so much stuff it really would have been a serious bother or else Canada or Australia might have had me (and my retirement pay).  But I hunkered down and waited for Trump to be impeached as any honest Congressmen and Senators should have done.  That didn't happen, but, well, the next election wasn't far away. 
I'm worried.  Trump has arranged government in ways that could get him re-elected.  Voter polls are being purged of legitimate voters, voting locations are being shut down in places where he knows he will lose.  Mail-in ballots are being contested before they are even cast.  The Post Office, a trusted institution created in our Constitution. is being slowed so that ballots will arrive late.  Some places are demanding that mail-in voters come to prove their identity.
I find some comfort that many lifelong Republican strategists and power-brokers are fighting Trump.  But I don't know if they are enough.  All Trump needs to do is report the actual election day votes to declare victory and cause a crisis.  His supporters tend to vote ON Election Day.  The mail-in ballots are counted after the day.  And some investigations suggest that mail-in ballots are routinely dismissed/trashed and not considered "real".
Further, Trump has recently suggested that his followers deliberately try to mess up the system by voting twice.  Once by mail and once on Election Day.  Never mind that voting twice, trying to vote twice, or even encouraging people to try to vote twice is a felony...  There seems to be nothing Trump won't try to stay in office.  And he has expressed a desire for "12 years".
When Benjamin Franklin emerged from the building in 1776, someone shouted out, “Doctor, what have we got? A republic or a monarchy?”  He replied “A republic, if you can keep it.”  It is sometimes debated, but he did say that in a letter to a friend though.
So the question is, can we keep a republic (because we are not actually, technically, not  a "democracy" if we were, then  Al Gore and Hillary Clinton would have been Presidents by legitimate popular vote) and can we keep it.  This election will decide that.
Vote as if your children's future will depend on it.  Because it will...
Trump wants to be Putin.  Biden wants to be a normal US President.  That's all there is to it.

Post-Election Day

Well, you can't have everything you want on Election Day!  I suppose it came out pretty well well Progressives like me.  Possibly the best hint of that is that President Trump is royally annoyed.  But I'll stick to the election results...

Locally, there are no surprises in Maryland.  It is a rather solidly Democratic State.  Most every incumbent won, the 2 reasonably sensible referendums passed, and the local Board Of Education candidates were actually all pretty decent choices (sometimes there are whackos).  Gov Larry Hogan is a Republican and won re-election, but that is because he is rather Centrist and has done a good job of being bipartisan.  One has to respect a good Centrist if you want to get things done with support from all over.  His Democratic opponent was also good, but had less experience.

Nationally, I was pleased.  It was pretty clear that the Democrats wouldn't get control of the US Senate.  Far more Democrats were up for election in States that Trump won in 2016, so even random voting would have kept the Republicans in charge there.

The US House went Democratic as expected.  They needed to gain 23 seats; they have gotten 30 and it seems they will get about 4 more after some final votes are counted.  Most experienced professional political types guessed 30-40 and 34 seems likeliest.

That will have a profound effect on Trump (although he denies it and at the same time threatens The House with "investigations").  He is worried.  He always accuses others of what he has done himself, and threatens others with what he fears most himself. 

The House can start investigations of corrupt Trump officials, investigate his previously-hidden tax returns, and can impeach him if enough evidence is found.  Though I should mention (because it is often confused) that impeachment is merely an indictment; any actual trial would be held by the Senate.

Democrats gained about 8 State Governors, which was good.  I particularly cheered the ousting of the Wisconsin Governor, Scott Walker.  He was a real mess.  Among other things, he used an obscure emergency State Law designed to help cities with failed local mayors and/or situations beyond their control to appoint sycophants as City Managers with dictatorial powers. 

But the additional Democratic Governors will be in office during the 2020 post-census redistricting (an adjustment of voting districts due to population changes).  The Republican Governors have had a bad habit of arranging voting districts into weird shapes to arrange elections to their advantage. 

That is called "Gerrymandering".  It isn't a new idea.  The original example is from Governor Gerry in the 1800s in Massachusetts.  Gerry arranged a voting district so weird that it spread across the State in a very strange shape to gather all his opponents into one voting district he was sure to lose while winning all the others.  A local newspaper dubbed it "the Gerrymander" because it resembled a salamander.


Some of that gerrymandering will be undone.  It matters because it violates fair voting.  It has gotten so bad that, in some States, voters can choose one political party by 60% and still only get 1/3 of the House of Representative members. That is obviously not "democracy".

I will mention that the Senate is designed to be unfair like that (because Senators were originally to represent the State, not the populace).  California has 40 million residents and 2 Senators (like every State), and Wyoming has only 565,000 and 2 Senators.  So Wyoming has 80x the influence in the Senate per person as California.  Republicans control most of the lower-population States. 

That is why the Republicans can elect Presidents with a minority of the total vote.  6 of the last 7 Presidential elections have had the majority of voters choosing the Democratic candidate but only 2 Democrats were Presidents.

There were some close calls in some important elections.  Some Democrats who lost came closer than any in a couple decades (see gerrymandering, above) even in places where Trump won in 2016.  Some elections are still in doubt and will be decided in recounts or by yet-uncounted absentee ballots.  And some of the losing Democratic candidates did so well as first-timers that they will surely be more experienced and campaigning next time.

The next couple of years with Trump in office with a Democratic House Of Representatives should be very interesting.

Aside from all that, voter experiences vary by location.  Gerrymandering aside, there are other ways voters can be suppressed.  There are tricks the party in local power can affect things.  The Republicans did their best to make sure the groups of people they expected to vote against them could be discouraged.

In places where they wouldn't get much support, they reduced the voting locations, made them hard to find, even moved them out of cities to where there was no public transportation service, demanded exact name matches on several ID forms (even I have several legal versions of my name because I misspelled my middle name and heaven help you if you have a non-standard english name or a hyphenated one), challenged anyone with a Post Office Box delivery.

In some places, voters stood in line for 6 hours because their voting place "inconveniently" had too few ballots to fill out.  I stood in line for 3 hours once myself.  But here in (Democratic) Maryland, there are voting stations all over the place. 

So I walked into mine Tuesday, went straight to the check-in table (no line), then straight to the ballot reception table (no line), and then to the private voting stall (no line).  I filled out my ballot (paper so that it can be recounted if necessary and hard to hack) and brought it to the scanner (no line).

I was in and out in 10 minutes!  That's how it should be.  And how it could be if SOME PEOPLE (Republicans) weren't actively trying to prevent unfavored people from voting. 

Election Day

Today is Election Day in the US.

Vote!

I HOPE you will vote in favor of Democrats to counteract the Trumpian Madness, but the important thing is that you vote.

Voting itself is more important than the choice you make.  The more of us who vote, the more it reflects how "We The People" want our nation to go.  The more of us who vote, the more we all agree about the outcome.

Ask neighbors if they want a ride to the polls, regardless of how they will vote.  Email friends to remind them to vote.  Call older relatives in other States to remind them to vote.  A 70% turnout means more than a 50% turnout.  The more people who vote means we get a better idea what the country really wants. 

If you don't vote, don't complain afterwards...

Local Elections

All votes on Election Day are not about Presidents, Senators, and Representatives.  Sometimes it is about local judges, Board Of Education members, and ballot referendums.

It is very hard to find out much about Board Of Education member candidates, for example.  But there is a source.  Do a search for League of Women Voters and your State "League of women voters Maryland" for example.  They don't make endorsements.  But they do invite resumes in a structured set of categories.  You can learn a lot from the candidates there.

Some resumes include code phrases.  If you don't like extremely religious people, home schoolers, or conspiracy theorists, you can often detect that in their resumes.  So it gives you people to cross off the list.  Equally, if the resumes mention years of public school experience, analytic professional work, and education from legitimate colleges and universities, you know they have a good background.

The League of Women Voters also provide a very good but neutral review of ballot referendums.  They give the arguments for both sides briefly. 

If you want to know about the local issues, they are the right place to go.

I have my sample ballot all marked up to the lowest level of choices.

Elections

I follow some political TV (MSNBC mostly).  I love Chris Hayes and Rachel Maddow.  I get pretty worked up about elections, so fact-based analysis is good.

I am very glad the campaigns are about done and everything will be resolved in 3 days.  It all may go well, it may go horribly (from my personal POV), but at least it will be over for 2 years.  I EXPECT to be pleased with the election results, but then I thought Hillary Clinton was sure to win in 2016, so you never know.

I'll be honest.  I think Donald Trump is a lying wanna-be autocrat with no agenda other than to gain enough power to make him and his family rich (because he is far less wealthy than he pretends to be).

But what really scares me is his ability to lie routinely and in spite of corrections by fact-checkers who have no political affiliations.  He riles up people with outrageous claims.  One fascinating thing is that traditionally conservative Republicans are against him.  When George Will and Micheal Gerson are arguing against a Republican President, that President is doing something very seriously wrong.

Trump can't be allowed to run free.  The nation needs a check on his desire to become an autocrat.  The Senate looks to stay Republican.  But The House looks to go very "hugely" (to use a favorite Trump term) Democratic.  And he is desperate to avoid that.  The House has subpoena powers to investigate the financial corruption of many of Trump's Cabinet Members.  And many of them have taken advantage of their positions to enjoy a lifestyle of "the rich and famous".

They deserve to be investigated and removed from office.  I object to their goals of reducing environmental protections, clean air and clean water, allowing industry to pollute, etc, but also it angers me that they have some odd sense on entitlement to use taxpayer money for personal use.

True public servants don't do that.

I'm going complete Democratic Party ticket on Tuesday.  That's just my decision.  I have voted for some Republicans in the past, but not this time.  I'm voting for anyone against Trump.  I don't like the idea of voting a straight ticket, but Trump has to be stopped.

While I Was Gone

I moped around the house for a couple days and stayed in bed a lot.  Then I got up and did some hard angry work.

I took out the 10" electric tiller that I bought a few months ago for work in small spaces and attacked the area where I want to plant 200 daffofdl bulbs.  That didn't work out too well.  The tall grass wrapped around the tiller blades.  So I spent 15 minutes cutting and pulling them loose.  Then took out my weed whacker and cut all the grass to ground level.  Then went after the soil again.

That didn't work out any better.  The ROOTS just wrapped around the tiller blades.  So I removed THEM.  It was rather therapeutic.  Burned off some anger.  I attacked them with a ground digger knife and pliers and by hand.

But the small electric tiller is obviously only designed for bare ground and flowers.  So I pulled out the big gas one.  Which wouldn't start.  Old dried gas I suspect.  I'll try it again tomorrow after some new gas has a chance to dissolve the old gas.  And if that doesn't work, I can take apart the carburator.  I learned a trick from a repairman about shooting spray carburator cleaner into the system that often works.  Failing that, it goes to a local repair shop for real repair and tune up, and it has been a few years so it needs it.

I did get a lot of angry energy used up pulling on the starter rope.

The manual rotary mower wouldn't start either and I read online that that usually means the blade disengagement bar on the handle is stuck.  I couldn't find anything wrong with it, so that has to go for professional work too.

I better check the snowblower too.  When you need it is NOT the time to go looking for fast repairs.

I have a small cast iron Lodge grill good for cooking a couple of steaks at a time.   I didn't use it for a couple of years.  I stayed under my covered smoker grill, and with a cover of it's own.  I pulled it out a few weeks ago and it was COMPLETELY rusted under 2 covers!

Perfect "angry energy" project!  I wirebrushed that sucker for 3 hours.  THAT got a lot of anger out.  Still wasn't good enough.  It will never be free of rust again.  But I have a 1,000F temperature wood stove Rust-Oleum paint I can use on most of it.

According to online advice, the cooking surface will have to be soaking in 50% white vinegar and water for 4 hours, rubbed dry with a clean cloth, and then oiled and seasoned in a 300F oven like any new cast iron skillet.  If that all works, I will buy a tightly sealed plastic bin to keep it in afterwards.  If it doesn't, I'll buy a new one.  Maybe I can just buy a cooking rack replacement.

I had a nice little steel one decades ago.  Just the right size for 6 charcoal briquets and one steak.   I wish I still had that.  I can't find one like it.  Some stuff just seems to disappear over the years.  Maybe it burned through the bottom.  I can't recall.

Still need some projects to burn off "angry energy".   Maybe it is time to bring out the steel spade and start scraping under the roots of weedy grass in the flower garden.  I still can't kneel well, but if I sit on the ground and push on the back of the spade with my feet, that should work. 

I'm Back

I'm not even sure where to start.  The election night was a real kick in the gut.  Its not that being for the losing candidate is such a shock.  I supported McCarthy, McGovern, Mondale, Dukakis, Kerry, etc over the years, and I knew by Election Day they were losing..  Gore's loss was a hard blow to take too, and he actually won!

I suppose it is partly than I never considered the winning candidates I didn't support "evil or "sick".  Nixon in 72 seemed at least experienced and competent, Reagan had been Governor of a large State, and Bush Sr had been in government and politics for decades.

My biggest disappointment before was Bush Jr winning but even that was only because I thought he was rather stupid, Cheney WAS evil, and I thought Gore got cheated.

And part of it is that I thought Trump was a bad joke from the start, "running" only to improve his business prospects, and he would fade away like Ben Carson or Herman Cain.  As the Republican Debates and Primaries went along, I kept expecting Trump to be eliminated.

He was obviously not qualified for high political office, and as more information about his personal and commercial actions came out, I was sure Republicans would turn away from him in favor of some more standard like Jeb Bush, Kasich, Ryan, etc.

Even when Trump captured the Republican nomination, I wasn't all that concerned.  I thought it meant a Democratic landslide, and the polls seemed to support it.  Right up to Election Eve, it seemed there was no way Clinton could lose.

1.  That the voters realized she had experience when Trump had none.  That as a Senator, Clinton had domestic experience and a reputation for working with both Republicans and Democrats.  As Sec of State, she had international experience and a good reputation abroad.

2.  That voters realized the Clinton' "scandals" were minor.  The email server thing has pretty much been shown to be a molehill instead of a mountain, and even the most angry House Republicans published their Ben Ghazi report without any specific blame on Clinton.  The suggestions of Clinton Foundation conflict of interest proved to be way more minor than Trump Foundation outright theft and deception.

3.  That Clinton's personal behavior was so far beyond reproach compared to Trump's that there was no comparison.

So I went into watching the election returns come in slowly.   I watched a science DVD...  Later I returned to TV just in time to hear "So we are calling the election from Donald Trump.  Other channels agreed.

I went into a sort of shock.  I felt like I had shifted universes like in some sort of science fiction movie.  But wherever I am now ;) I am there and Trump won.  I was so stunned I considered moving to Canada or Australia.  It's harder than you might think AND if I can't get myself to relocate within my own State, I'm hardly going to leave my country.  I realized I was acting like a child considering running away from home.

The past few days of watching political shows on TV (I generally watch MSNBC, PBS, and CNN) have given me some hope.

1.  They point out that Trump is not yet President and we don't know what he will actually DO once in office.

2.  They point out that some people elected President have been considered unqualified yet gone on to do well in office "the office makes the man" idea.  Lincoln is the best example.  He was considered to be a buffoon by most; and "accident' of  politics.

3.  They point out that close associates say that Trump is very different in private than in public.  That in private he is a listener, thoughtful, and a fast learner.  That he adopts public personas that suit his private goals and casts them aside when he has gotten what he wants.

4.  They point out that Trump has previously considered himself a Democrat and has given more money to Left and Centrist candidates than Conservation ones.

5.  They point out that Trump considered the Republican party more vulnerable to a takeover than the Democratic party because of Clinton's assumed victory there.

6.  They point out that Trump is extremely practical, holds no extreme political views, and is creative in negotiations.

7.  They point out that he is entirely willing to talk to people of extreme opnions, while not being swayed by them.

8.  They point out that Trump has a habit of sitting be himself in a private room and thinking carefully about what he will do.

9.  They point out that Trump has a habit of trying to beat his oppenints into the ground, but recognizes and admires opponents who make good arguments and fight hard.

So I have decided to wait and see.  I don't have much of a choice.  I have no allusions that Trump is a nice person.  His sexist, racist, nativism, anti-immigrant comments cannot be erased.  I suspect most of his comments reflect his true beliefs.

But I also have to think that the pressure of the US Presidency can change people.  Some people change greatly after sitting in the Oval Office.  Truman was pushed for VP as a result of the powerful Pendergast political machine out of Kansas City.   Truman was basically told to "go home and don't bother us" by Roosevelt after the 1944 election.  But Roosevelt died and Truman was President.  O won't say he was a Top 10 President, but he did pretty well.  He pushed down the Pendergast political machine, and acted on his own.

He forced the Japanese surrender in 1945,  he pushed the foundation of the United Nations, Issued the Truman Doctrine to contain Communism, passed the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe, Supported and recognized the State of Israel, ordered the Berlin Airlift in 1948, helped create NATO, and helped save South Korea as a democratic nation.

Not bad for a former VP politico who was told to "just go away".    So I hope Trump can improve.

We will know a lot more when he announces appointments to executive agencies.  Does he have the slightest idea what HUD or the EPA does, or will he just trade those jobs to political supporters in return for political support?  Well he just put some gas company VP in charge of the Energy Dept so they can rip us all off and destroy renewal energy .  We don't know.  We will find out.

Will he govern from the middle, or from his party on the right.  Maybe not, Establishment and Conservative Republicans distrust him.  Democrats hate him.  Perhaps he will find middle ground, move left or right, or just fail.

We just don't know yet.

What I do know is that I have spent enough time angry about the election, and life goes on...

VOTED!

So much trouble...

Walked in and went directly to the registration desk.  30 seconds...

Went directly to the ballot desk.  15 seconds...

Went directly to a voting booth.  Filled in  some circles, 60 seconds...

Went directly to a scanner which read and stored my ballot.  10 seconds...

Received my "I Voted"sticker, 5 seconds...

Total time spent voting, 2:00 minutes...

I could have almost held my breath the entire time!

UPDATE 3pm:  I voted at about 1pm today, ran some minor errends, and went home.  Where I did some minor yardwork.  That was mostly laying traps for the last generation of mosquitoes for the year.  I set out a bucket of water in some shrubs last week and checked it every day to see if there were larvae.  

There were some today, so I dumped THEM on the ground to die and set out 6 small inviting containers  nestled down into groundplants and sprinkled some mosquito bT into each one  with some water.  This bT is a bacteria that specifically attacks moqsuito larvae.  If you see anything called "mosquito doughnuts, that's the stuff.  It is about 100% effective.  Used at the very end of the year, it REALLY cuts down on their start next year.

Update 6pm:  There won't be any election information for an hour, so I made dinner.  Full of nervous energy, I did too much cooking.  I cooked a 1.5" Del Monico steak, corn on the cob, a potato that I fried in the steak fat, a tossed salad in 1,000 island dressing, stir-fried mushrooms and onion and red bell pepper, and some fresh spinach.  Too much to eat for me, but half of everything was fine.  The rest tomorrow.  

Whenever I'm not sure what to do, I cook.  Some people clean, others read, I cook.

Update 10pm:  The election results are too close to be predictive.  CNN breathlessly announced that Trump was leading Clinton in North Carolina - with 1% of the vote in.  That is both utterly meaningless AND maddening.  I turned the TV OFF!  I will wait to see meaningful results later.  

I did some USEFUL work finding out what self-propelled surface-level brushcutters cost to rent for a day at the local Home Depot (only $94 per day) and confirmed that they have at least one to rent.  

I also have a serious gas roto-tiller and a mower than won't start, so I checked on the most likely problems and how to fix them.  Basically, I suspect the problem is old gas.  I haven't used either in several years.  That is "medium" easy to fix.  

Take a couple parts loose and spray the cleaner in usually does it.   And if it doesn't solve the problem, there is a local repair shop that does good work.  I have a trailer to deliver them.  

Meanwhile, I would still prefer to hire someone to do the brushcutting and debris removal (especially because they are mostly brambles and briars).  I'll accept any reasonable quote.  But it is good to know what the actual equipment cost is.  $94 per day rental is a LOT lower than what I expected.  

 
Update 12:30am.  I am horrified.  It looks like Trump might win.  I do not comprehend this.  Fortunately, there are some uncertain States to go.  It was just reported that Canada is postponing immigration requests from US citizens.  So they don't make rash decisions, I suppose.  Good idea.

Personally. I'm not sure what I would do if Trump wins.  More about that if it happens.

The Clinton/Trump Debate Tomorrow

I'm worried about the debate.  Clinton has to show great command of all national and international issues (and she will).  She probably has to know the Minister of Finance of Slovakia and the exchange rate of Dollars to Laotion Kips (and she probably does).

All Trump has to do is not pull down his pants and moon the audience...

And then too many people will think him "presidential" for restraining himself. 

If there was ever a difference in expectations between 2 people in a debate, this is it.  And it is not fair.  I grew up taught that knowledge, experience, and nuance matters in life and leadership.  I went through my career that way and I have lived my life that way. 

If Trump becomes our President, my brain will just EXPLODE.  And not because he is, but because enough Americans thought he should be.  It will be a society I no longer want to be part of. 

I live in Maryland.  Maryland is not a contested State.  Maryland will go for Clinton without any doubt.  It is some of the other States I worry about.  Personal opinion of States that go for Trump; they are obviously insane.

I read a very interesting book decades ago (and re-read it sometimes) called 'They Also Ran' by Irving Stone.  It details the losers in presidential elections, why they lost and what kind of presidents the losers would have made.  Stone's general view is that the American voters have generally made good decisions, but sometimes really made bad ones.  His judgements on the elections seem sound.

As he said in his epilogue, the American People have made the better choice rejecting Hayes for Tilden (the election was crooked in Florida and Hayes was chosen badly),  Douglas for Lincoln, Blaine for Cleveland, Landon/Wilkie/Dewey in favor of Franklin Roosevelt, Dewey over Truman,  Nixon over Kennedy,  and Goldwater against Johnson. 

We erred grievously choosing  Taylor over Cass, Grant over Seymour, Coolidge over Davis, Eisenhower over Stevenson,  and Nixon over Humphrey

We made a difficult choice between Smith/Hoover  between equally good candidates.

The rest of the elections seem to have been the better choices.

Let's hope this election doesn't go down in history as the worst decision the voters have even made...

Blogblast For Peace, Elections

Can't help it, I just love this one...

And...

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I can't forget US election day, though.  I won't try to suggest who to vote for anywhere.   But things have been improving since the Great Recession of the middle 2000s, we are out of 2 unilateral wars, and back into building alliances (as difficult and slow as that can be). 

Mostly, though, I just want to say:  VOTE!

Since my first vote in 1972, I have only missed voting in one Presidential or Mid-Term or Primary election.  I skipped the presidential election in 1980 because I couldn't stand either Jimmy Carter OR Ronald Reagan and supported John Anderson.  And with the long lines and the hopelessness of his chances, I just stayed home.  I regret that.

Voting is precious.  If you don't vote, don't complain about the results...

So VOTE!