Wicked review

We went to see Wicked (Part 1) today.
The story of a person scorned for their different coloring, fighting against a corruption establishment.
Nice to see the Trump story in theaters already.

Avoiding the W slump

Republicans now have the most political power they've had since 2005.
Presidency
Senate majority
Likely House majority.
But George W. Bush didn't stay on top for long in 2005. 

Iraq 

Hurricane Katrina.

Will items like that take President Trump down?

Internationally, he'll be trying to stop wars instead of getting blame for his past wars.

Hurrieanes?

He's got Ron DeSantis on his side.

Democrats will need to find something else to boost their hopes.

Winning formula for 2028

The day after losing to Donald Trump, Democrats are struggling to figure out what happened.

They've focused on two things that will help them lose again in 2028.

1. We've got to find the missing voters from 2020.

2. Trump voters followed disinformation.

Hope they continue their focus.

Winning in 2028 will be easier for J.D. Vance if Democrats take the wrong road.

Will Biden follow James Buchanan's ineptitude?

Let's think past the sale - Trump wins on Tuesday.
Protesters start doing damage in multiple cities and begin to overwhelm local authorities.
What does Joe Biden do?
For all the worries about Donald Trump being a dictator, he has to wait until Jan. 20.
It was the time between election and inauguration when seven southern states left the Union.
James Buchanan did very little as the country traveled down the path to Civil War. And he's not remembered fondly for his inaction.
Can Biden do anything?
Can you see Barack Obama or Bill Clinton giving a speech asking for calm? Respect for the vote that returns Donald Trump to office? Yeah, we called him a fascist, a Hitler, but we need to work with him.
Will the people listen to them?

Worrying about Trump is focusing on the wrong thing.

It's better for Kamala to lose

Who's going to win Tuesday? 

It's a tossup. 

Who will have a harder time in the Oval Office? 

Kamala. 

Through her shortened candidacy, she hasn't show the ability to work with the many millions who support Donald Trump. 

You can't call Trump a fascist without tarring his supporters. 

The Senate will likely be controlled by Republicans in 2025. They will have at least 51 Senators and maybe a few more. 

Can she get anything through the opposition party leadership? 

Sure, she can try executive orders. 

Hello, Supreme Court. 

The courts slowed Trump in his first term. With more of his appointees in place now, any order she tries will have to be very limited.

A Facebook friend posted a meme about Brett Baier's disrespectful attitude toward Harris at her interview - holding out his hand. 

Think Putin or Xi will figure they can scare her with a hand gesture?

She's a creature of California, where people mostly agreed with her. A 50-50 country isn't her best way to shine.

She'll struggle mightily. 

The economy will struggle mightily under Democrat ideas with the Green New Deal. 

And I don't think Donald Trump - or his millions of voters - will disappear with a close loss.

Sweet Sixteen

The blog hits its 16th anniversary today.
Started as Obama was on the road to victory.
Now hoping that Trump gets his second term.
That will make for an entertaining future.

Reading list for 2025

There will be so many great books about the current election coming out sometime in 2025. 

Like Joe Biden's "I was pushed." 

And Kamala's "1001 Word Salads."

Or James Carville's "Life in a Louisiana doghouse."

The economy will boom with all the sales of these interesting books.

Kamala's HIM problem

The Harris campaign struggles recently can be summed up as HIM
H - Helene
I - Israel
M - Milton
Two hurricanes and Israel's success against its foes have shifted the momentum to Trump.
No matter how well you respond to hurricanes, so much damage sours the nation's mood.

McDonald's employee of the month? Trump

Donald Trump spent the lunch hour in a Pennsylvania McDonald's, filling up fry orders and dishing food through the drive through.
I'm lovin' it.
btw, I worked fast food in Towson, Maryland in the 1980s. My store is gone. But I'd hope one of my coworkers from those days would step forward and remember me.
My parents saved lots of stuff. Might have some paycheck receipts around.

Make Obama cry

CNN provides another motivation to vote for Trump on Nov. 5.
But a thought has circulated among several people close to the former president, they told CNN: If Trump wins, Obama might be seen as the aberration in the history of American politics, rather than Trump and his nativist authoritarianism. Obama acolytes have spent the last eight years rationalizing Trump as the last gasp backlash to the Democrat and his presidency.
Let's continue the era of Trump.
The arc of history bends back and hits Obama hard.

While your food spoils, we hold meetings

The devastation in North Carolina seems to be devastating for Democrats' chances in the election.
People have no electricity.
Bridges and roads destroyed.
Unable to contact family.
Joe Biden said he's on the case.
"I was on the phone for two hours yesterday."
Time to get off the phone and get helicopters into the mountains.

I see that Joy, Joy, Joy is down in the polls

Where? 

Down in the polls.

I see that Joy, Joy, Joy is down in the polls.

Hope til Election Day.

Our party-switchers are great. Not yours

It's weird to find back-to-back stories on Blue Virginia Monday - one praising Republicans who plan to vote for Harris and the next attacking Tulsi Gabbard for endorsing Trump.
Our political landscape is changing. Democrats can't depend on people staying on their side forever. Neither can Republicans.
Democrats seem more intent on insulting people when they leave.
The new converts should realize how quickly they will be ignored once the election is over.

DNC convention agenda

They will talk about things the past four years that voters don't like.
And talk about things they want to do going forward - without explaining why they weren't done last four years.
Good luck with that.

How about restrain Big Government?

Democrats have lots of big enemies.
Big Pharma.
Big Oil
Big Meat-packers.
Anyone they want to blame for price increases.
Except for the big group responsible for most of the problems.
Big Government.
Only because Democrats have a Big Blindspot.

Trump already won

How quickly the narrative turned once Joe Biden threw in the towel on the 2024 campaign for re-election.
It's like he disappeared from view.
Now the narrative attempts to say Trump is going down.
He completed the task he set out to accomplish - deny Joe Biden a second term.
Maybe too quickly, but Biden's time is up.
The team that ousted Biden needs to figure out the way to return to the White House after this unexpected change of opponent.

AWALZ

Saw this and liked it.
AWALZ.
They put Gov. Walz on ticket to help with rural white men.
The people who won't be impressed by a guy who left his unit when they shipped off to Iraq.
And claimed a higher rank when he didn't meet the qualifications.

Not so swift Walz

Democrats promoted Tim Walz's National Guard service in his introduction Tuesday.
But it appears he left his unit instead of going to Iraq in 2005.
Remember when Republicans brought out Swift Boat veterans who didn't like John Kerry in 2004?
I bet this year's Trump campaign leaders do.
Since Chris LaCivita was media advisor for the Swift Boat operation.
I think we'll see plenty of Walz's former unit members in the next few months - hanging out with Donald Trump.

How much tax does your cat pay?

Interesting thing about the childless cat lady" saga.
Why does it continue?
Because childless cat ladies have so much free time on their hands.
Wait until government programs run out of money.
How much can your cats and dogs pay to reduce the deficit?

Rewrite

Everything that's been written about Election 2024 - throw it out.
No Biden running now.
It looks like Harris takes the Democrats' top spot but we have four weeks to be completely sure.
Plenty of nice things being said about Biden now.
But you don't trash the deceased at the viewing or gravesite.
Buckle up.

Today's Liberal talking points meeting

"I got nothing."
"I got nothing."
"I got nothing."
"I got nothing."

Happy Immunity Day

A few minutes until the final Supreme Court rulings of the year.
How much immunity will they give President Trump?
Just enough.

Mr. President, what brand of adult diaper are you wearing?

 Perfect question for Thursday's debate.

Farewell to a furry friend

Shortly after I started this blog, we picked up a Yorkshire Terrier puppy we named Laila.

Her journey ended tonight after 15 and a half years. 

I found this new take on Henry Gross' song Shannon from the spring of 1976.

Joe Biden is too old

Posting has been sparse on the blog.
What's something that will stay newsworthy until the next post?
Saying Joe Biden is too old to be president.
And it's scary that Democrats won't notice.
Maybe they also suffer from early onset dementia.

Glenn Youngkin and Jerry Seinfeld

VCU students walked out on Governor Youngkin's speech Saturday.
Duke students walked out on Jerry Seinfield's speech Sunday.
Before this weekend, did you think those two were on the same team?

Biden staffers for Trump

Democrats are releasing videos with Mitt Romney, Mike Pence and Chris Christie says how they won't vote for Donald Trump.
Do they think Republicans and Independents will listen to those voices?
More likely, it will bring voters to Trump.
Thanks, team Biden-Harris.

Are you better off now than you were five years ago

It's officially Trump vs. Biden, the rematch.
Team Biden will try to tell you things are better under his watch.
Of course, life is better than COVID year 2020.
But what about 2019?
Are we back to where we were then?
If not, why not?
That's the question Biden needs to answer.
Now taunt progress from the bottom of the COVID pit.
But where we were before it happened.

Can 12 people decide the presidential election?

Now that the Supreme Court has said Colorado (and other states) can't keep Donald Trump off the ballot, Democrats turn to the pending trials.
Will Trump get convicted of a felony before election day?
Today's message is - no.
A jury trial between now and election day will potentially change the result.
Thus 12 jurors would disenfranchise millions of Americans.
So it won't happen.
No matter how much Democrats want it.

Hail to the returning chief

At the beginning of the day, there was a chance Donald Trump would be kept off the ballot in Colorado - and maybe other states.
At the end of the day, he's on a glide path to victory over Joe Biden.
Biden was basically declared senile by the special prosecutor.
Then he attempted to spin it as being cleared.
Before fighting with the press corps on a brief availability.
The Democrats pinned their hopes on Biden in 2020. Now, they are finding the cost of that decision.

I've seen worse

It's taken a few days to get over the Ravens' loss to Kansas City.
Taylor Swift instead of Lamar Jackson in Las Vegas in two weeks.
But I'm old enough to remember other losses - some worse than this week's.
Like the 1969 Orioles losing in the first baseball season I followed. I went to my first game at Memorial Stadium on June 28, 1969 and watched them lose the World Series - while the world celebrated the Amazin Mets.

The Colts left Baltimore bereft of NFL football until Art Modell brought his team to town.
I work at the University of Virginia. Hearing 2018 and UMBC still hurt.

Unfortunately, every sports season ends with one winner and multiple teams preparing for next year.

Winning a championship is sweet - but joy is fleeting.

Enjoy the game - even if your team is not on the sideline.