I confess, it’s been impossible to break away from the computer. I have gorged on men in suits telling me about Maricopa County, asked VR to define a run-off and risked colour-blindness (one eye blue, the other red). Here’s what I’ve learned.
It’s amusing that the UK is ahead of the USA in time. That, fully awake, I could conceive, draft, correct and reveal a post while the USA slumbered. And that the USA could never catch up however superior its non-stick frying pans. That there would always be a five-hour dawn gap between backward, tractor-dominated Hereford and vibrant, drug-charged New York.
But you wouldn’t know this from YouTube. The men in suits appear never to sleep, never to take off their make-up. And the chat-show hosts crack one-liners – seemingly – at 3 am, the time many people just give up the ghost and die.
Are you aware of the crime of sedition (Conduct or speech inciting people to rebel against the authority of a state or monarch.)? Traditionally practised by ragged-trousered, bottom-feeders with Das Kapital in their back pocket. In the USA things are different; one inciter wears a recently-changed white shirt with cuffs just so, and may not even yet shave. He just happens to be the son-in-law of the guy who is nominally in charge.
I once watched a televised US football match between the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys. Green Bay is in Wisconsin (almost in Canada) and the temperature was -17 F. Several GB fans out of suicidal bravado were stripped to the waist. It comes as a surprise that such people also vote but they do. Perhaps with prosthetic fingers.
Yeah, seriousness is happening and things seem brighter. But you know all that. I’m still with you but differently.
FLASH ! People are letting off fireworks in sleepy, backward, isolated Hereford. A very expensive bottle of Chablis awaits. Thanks America, for doing the decent thing.
Trump likes to push the envelope. He is getting away with all sorts of crimes, including sedition, because he is president and seemingly can't be charged. Yet. I believe that if the Democrats win (which seems fairly certain), and then win the Georgia run offs to get a simple majority on the Senate, the laws protecting the president might be changed. Also, the majority of us despise the Electoral College. That won't be easy to change with a packed and now conservative Supreme Court - but we will try. What else do we have to do now that a majority of us are all politicized and raring to go? I would say simple majority, which is the correct term for how precarious the majority is, but we are not the simple ones.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, thanks for your always thoughtful views on this. And your support. We've got this. I hope. If the past 4 years have thought me anything, it is that a lying liar who lies will stop at nothing to steal an election.
Colette: The USA and the UK have differing views about what constitutes irony and the USA takes things a stage further by opting for a different pronunciation of the word. However these last few days have provided us both with an excellent example of large-scale irony: Trump, in full flow, employing exactly the same methods as those he fulminates about with respect to the Democrats. Should be included in all future US school grammar primers under Figures of Speech.
DeleteBut here was a chilling moment: Trump saying he can't wait to put his case before the Supreme Court where he expects Amy Coney Barrett to "come through" for him. An implication that he thinks he has "bought" a supreme court justice. Aaarrgh.
I agree that the protection of the president laws need revising. They date back to the days where there were such things as "gentlemens' agreements".
I've had to Wiki the reasons for the Electoral College. Wiki says: "(it) is a matter of ongoing debate. Supporters argue that it... promotes political stability, preserves the constitutional role of the states in presidential elections, and fosters a broad-based, enduring, and generally moderate political party system." If these vague claims are true then it would be fair to say they all failed massively in 2020.
The Electoral College was created by the Founding Father's in order to convince the slave holding states that they would not be outvoted based on numbers. Insane? Yes. Wrong? Yes.
DeleteThe whole process may be messy and people angry, but at least we are watching democracy in action, which is more than people in Russia can do. I hope Putin is watching. Now that Tweedledum is going I can only hope that in Blighty Tweedledee will shortly meet a similar fate.
ReplyDeleteGarden: I'm sure Vlad the Corrupter was watching, he has a financial interest. The next time Trump comes to Moscow asking for permission to build a hotel there he'd better bring a whole sackful of dollars. Being nice to Vlad simply won't be enough.
DeleteMany years ago during the 1968 Democratic Convention the protestors shouted, "The whole world is watching. The whole world is watching." And here we are again. It really makes me feel somehow safer and more confident knowing that there are people all over our beautiful planet watching and wishing for the best for us. We wait. We hope. They count. We wait some more. Thank you for watching and waiting with us.
ReplyDeleterobin andrea: Not only watching but - in many cases - trembling. And not just the "shithole countries" (qv: Donald Trump) down in Central America and the Caribbean. Having severed its connections with the EU, Britain is hoping for new trade deals to keep the wolf from the door. Mr J and Mr T seemed to get on well with each other and it seemed as if we would shortly be in receipt of large quantities of the US's chlorinated chicken. Any idea what this tastes like?
Delete