Sleeping Dems

 After having been put through years of election denial by the Republicans, 60 court filings, multiple recounts and audits, I can't believe the Democrats are now doing nothing to contest this razor thin election. They should be putting the Republicans through what we were put through. Why is it that we are not threatening innocent election workers and ruining their lives. As long as we continue to avoid doing things on the terms of the enemy, we are merely cowardly and defeated. And what about all of these ballots having gone through the Musk satellites? That needs to be questioned endlessly and hashed out in court for years. We have nothing to lose. We have already lost. The country has lost.

Berries

 On the path at Karang beach this morning, walking back to my bike, I came upon three men using a long pole to drag berries from the high limbs of a tree. They stopped me on my way and asked if I would like to try the berries, some of which they had already collected in a plastic bag. They were purplish berries, about the size of small grapes, had a bit of a meaty quality in texture, and tasted sweet and sour at the same time. They told me the name, but I did not really get the pronunciation. Have another, they said, and I did. When I left, the three or them each wanted to shake my hand. How wonderful. Having earlier in the day skimmed through all the American hatred on Facebook, how sweet was this simple kindness and shared humanity. 

Vipers

 Well this is getting downright biblical, isn't it? In a secular sort of way 😉

Judas, for 30 pieces of silver, betrayed the Lord. Trumpers have betrayed the nation for the price of an egg.

I read today, or rather brought to mind what I had read many times before, something Jesus said: 

Either make the tree good and it's fruit good, or else make the tree bad and it's fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit.

You can't have it both ways. The trumpers desire, by selfish motive and base self-interest, to be considered good despite their plain lack of compassion and concern for others.

Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.

In other words, you reap what you sow. Sadly, we must all reap what you have sown.

It's not nothing. It was not just another election with one fair choice or the other. It does not come down to the price of eggs. It comes down to the pride of our nation, our place in the world, our commitment to one another. A far, far higher price has been and will continue to be exacted by the irresponsible and thoughtless actions of those who voted to install a felon, a sexual predator, a compulsive liar, an insurrectionist in our country's highest office. 

The F Team

 The one thing that can be said for Trump's cabinet picks is that at least they are hilarious and give us the benefit of a robust belly laugh, albeit a bitter one, rather after the fashion of the Joker. They are completely, supremely unqualified, having no experience whatsoever in the posts to which they are being assigned. A Russian sympathizer/agent for the Department of Intelligence? A vax denier for the Department of Health, a man with a "worm" in his brain? Matt Gaetz, for God's sake, as the head of the Department of Justice? Lol. Bend over, Republican voters. Thy king cometh.

All is not Well

 I read an article this morning wherein the writer, whose name I have already forgotten, expressed her dissatisfaction with the illusion being painted by democratic politicians, including the president and the vice president, that this is  a normal transfer of power from one administration to the next. We have been told endlessly that Trump is a fascist and should never hold the power of the presidency again, and yet they seem to have forgotten their own words. This is no normal transition. This is a transition from traditional democracy to outright autocracy. I suppose that some people are buying this hypocrisy, especially Trump voters who still do not see what is coming, but I certainly do not buy it. It seems that people who have put their reputations on the line and spoken out against Trump and his anti-democratic plans have done so in vain. This makes the situation all the more sad and depressing. Convictions so strongly expressed and then so blithely forgotten cannot, as it seems to me, have been true convictions in the first place. All is not well. This is no common transition. This is surrender. This is politics as usual in a time that demanded much, much more. We should have dished up what the Republicans served us for the last 4 years. Instead, many of our leaders of integrity have simply folded and curled up on the ground like beaten curs. I do not believe that America, as we have known it, will survive the next four years. We will carry with us, if we proceed as a country at all, an irremovable stain of cruelty and hatred as well as incompetency and irresponsibility globally. I mourn for the land of my birth.

Wrong

 Well, I was wrong. Very sadly wrong. It turns out that Americans prefer a criminal as their president. A felon, convicted on 34 counts, twice impeached, four times indicted, and a sexual predator to boot. It turns out that this is who we are. 

After election day, I simply turned off the news. I will not watch it. I cannot bear to continually see and hear this man's name for the next 4 years. I cannot bear the constant reminder of America's moral turpitude. Instead, I will take a break from America and all things American and hope, albeit dimly and as absent-mindedly as possible, for some sort of miraculous redemption in the future.

I leave the subject for now with the words of George Conway, which express my own feelings rather succinctly:

"My own hope and belief about what would transpire last night was sadly and profoundly wrong—like many, I have the emotional and intellectual flaw, if that’s what it is, of assuming that people are wiser and more decent than they actually turn out to be. I feel chastened—distraught—about my apparently naive view of human nature."

Predictions

 Every Monday here, which is Sunday back in the old country, I watch highlights on YouTube from all the NFL games, and I've gotten into the habit of predicting the winner in each game based on the performance of the teams through the season as well as just my own gut feeling about which team will prevail. And I've gotten pretty good at it, if I don't say so myself. 

So I thought that I would expand the habit, just this once, to matters outside of football contests and offer my prediction for who will win the upcoming presidential election. 

It is my belief that Kamala Harris will win rather handily; but I must add as well that this will not stop the Trump train on its time worn track of protest and perfidy. Despite a decisive loss, Trump will screech foul and fraud, and yes there will be trouble, the likes of which we must wait to see.

Eventually, in God's time, we will indeed turn the page on Trump and trumpism, but it is a heavy and ponderous page and must await the reading of the last foul word before being done.