[You could also read the most recent report, or even start at the beginning.]
Well, The Mother is back from Colorado, safe and sound. And virus free? It seems so, but she (and our littlest one) are staying even more out of the public than usual for the requisite 2 weeks, just to be sure. It seemed that Southwest, at least, is doing a soft-of-decent job at trying to keep everyone safe(ish): they’re only flying 2 people to a row, and I believe the masks were required (of course our ladies would have done that anyway—heck, we even got some glasses for the little one on the off-chance that that’s helpful—but it’s nice to know everyone else will mask up as well). The trip itself ... well, I’m sure many of you know how it feels to go home to visit your family in the best of times, much less when people are in and out of the hospital. Not so much fun, overall, although it was nice that The Mother got to meet her neice for the first time.
Meanwhile I was stuck at home with our two older children, one of whom is ostensibly an adult, but neither of whom is noted for their motivation or pliability. I believe I described it as like pushing elephants uphill—the classic “herding cats” didn’t really begin to cover it. If my elder child ever figures out how to monetize talking people into going out to buy them food, they will soon be wealthy; if my middle child ever figures out how to redirect all that time spent complaining about doing a thing into just doing the thing and moving on with his life, he will soon find it nearly impossible to fill all the extra hours. Still, it was only 10 days that I had to do it unaided, and I’m somewhat compensated by the fact that my children refuse to read this blog, so they can’t bitch at me for bitching about them.
Our politics continues to be somewhat depressing, as Trump’s obvious strategy of constantly inventing new scandals so that all the old ones get forgotten continues to work on a grander and grander scale. Having gotten away with kidnapping people off the streets of Portland, he’s moved on to screwing up everyone’s mail delivery in the hopes that will tip the election in his favor (remember: that’s not just my opinion of his actions—he actually admitted it), talking about trying to delay the election, and—perhaps most bizarre for its banality in the face of his other actions—looking into having his face added to Mount Rushmore. Sober people are talking and even writing about the possibility that Trump could refuse to leave office even if he loses. Trevor Noah’s old jokes likening Trump to an African dictator really seem less and less funny all the time ...
Am I heartened by the official acceptance of the Democratic nomination by Joe Biden? Honestly, not that much. (For my level of enthusiasm for Biden—as well as the level of enthusiasm for the majority of voters, I suspect—I will refer you once again to The Daily Show ... they sum it up better than I ever coould.) A bit more so by the choice of Kamala Harris, who I’ve always liked, even though of course she’s not perfect. But, hey: at this point, if lack of perfection is the worst thing you’ve got going for you, you’re a fucking political rockstar. While Biden may not get us anywhere much farther that out from under Trump—assuming he can even get us that far—there’s always the chance that Harris will be president soon afterward, and then we might see some real reforms to the horrific state of our political system. But, you know, I ain’t holding my breath.
I’m also extremely amused by the people (Colbert, for instance) who talk about the fact that Donald Trump fears going to jail once he’s out of office. Even if Trump were capable of understanding consequences—and he’s definitely not, as nothing he’s ever done, no matter how bad, has ever spawned any—this is laughable to me. We don’t send rich white guys to prison. Roger Stone isn’t going to prison. Nixon didn’t go to prison—hell, even Spiro Agnew didn’t go to prison. The concept that Trump, or even any member of his family, might go to prison one day is so remarkably naive as to be amusing ... you know, if it weren’t so depressing.
Likewise, the concept that DeJoy will be in any way inconvenienced by having to testify before Congress—if he even does!—is also just silly. If he decides to go, he’ll pretend he doesn’t “recall” anything and nothing will change. Hell, if he decided to go and say “hell yeah, I’m sabotaging the post office: whaddaya gonna do about it?” ... still, nothing would change. Better yet, why should he bother to go at all? There are no consequences for not showing up, apparently, so he could make better use of that time on a golf course or a private jet or somesuch. People on the screens rant about how Congress should be “grilling” DeJoy, or “holding him to account” ... I say, why bother? What difference would it make? There are no consequences for corrupt officials lying before Congress, there are no consequences for corrupt officials failing to appear before Congress, there are no consequences for Presidents scheming to rig elections, there are no consequences for police officers shooting innocent civilians ... why do we even bother any more? Safer to expect the worst, I think. Perhaps then I might be pleasantly surprised.
But, as I said before: I ain’t holding my breath.
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