Category Archives: elections

Stress Testing Our Democracy

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With the election of Donald Trump once again in 2024, we have opted to run a stress test on American democracy. Some thought we did this in 2020 with Trump’s first election. But guardrails in human form prevented Trump from doing all of what he wanted to do. Some think that the success of those guardrails are what brought us to Trump 2.0. His supporters were able to claim that his bark is bigger than his bite, so not to worry.

Human guardrails will be largely absent from his cabinet and other positions in the executive branch this time around. Now it will be up to people in Congress to protect us from the impulsive Trump who doesn’t listen to his Presidential Daily Briefings or bother to learn about the complexities of various issues. The first opportunity for the Senate to act will be regarding Trump’s cabinet nominees. Will Senators roll over and approve people who are unfit for their positions? Or will they hold hearings, require background checks, and actually reject some who might pose a danger to the country?

Biden has faded from public view, and Trump seems to be our acting President – or acting co-President along with Elon Musk. Score one for Elon this week as Trump has come out in favor of the H1B visa program that enables tech companies to import clever people from abroad to power their various creative endeavors. The question today is what will the MAGA wing do now? Will those who are opposed to almost all immigration, most especially of brown people, begin to lose their faith in Trump? Will anything at all cause them to rethink their support?

Some people fear, while others cheer, the notion of Trump as a wrecking ball. I’ve heard the call for more efficiency on the part of federal agencies for as long as I’ve been a voter. No one really delivers. Do we need a DOGE initiative to simply eliminate a variety of agencies, perhaps whole cabinet departments such as the Department of Education? That’s not my inclination. Long ago, I decided that government agencies are not going to be efficient, but that their functions are needed, and I would just tolerate inefficiency. 

After coming to that conclusion, I was pleased when some state and county agencies seemed to do some housekeeping. For sure, employees got some sort of customer service training. Also, some employees gained the ability to help with two things at one visit! E.g., “Would you like to change your voter registration information along with the address on your driver’s license? We can do both!” Well, yes I would, and thank you very much! Are similar improvements possible on the federal level?

Perhaps. Ten years ago, when we wanted to remove a culvert on a small stream on our property, several agencies at different levels of government needed to approve this project even though removing culverts is generally a good thing. But, the various agencies had at least cooperated by creating just one set of forms that could be submitted to all, plus they had designated one person to make the final approval! Still tedious, but much less tedious than in prior years. 

I favor incrementalist approaches to change, at least as it relates to governments. Revolutions just don’t always turn out well. Consider Russia. Or Iran. Or Cuba. Sure, get rid of Assad in Syria. But if the violence of a revolution can be avoided, I think that would be a good thing. Those who support Trump acting as a wrecking ball might have fantasies of a peaceful transition to a much smaller government. My vision is one of chaos with the loss of environmental protections and the minimal safety net that exists today. 

Will the Senate and the House of Representatives develop a spine and reclaim their authority to hold hearings on Cabinet nominees. Will they actually perform any oversight of any agencies? Will courts become too political or will they mind the Constitution?

For now, I remain curious – and anxious. We shall see.

P.S.: The news of Jimmy Carter’s death has just come out as I’m finishing this piece. I’m confident that if Kamala Harris had won the election, he would have lived long enough to see her inauguration. 

December, 2024, Odds and Ends

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The year is coming to an end. What are we to make of it all? 

Syria

Bahar al-Assad is in Moscow. Good that he’s gone, but will something good come to pass in Syria in his absence? Check back a year from now.

Two Presidents

It has been customary in years past for the US to have only one president at at time, but this year we have two. The inauguration is not until January 20, but Trump is already wheeling and dealing with other world leaders. Hey, it’s Trump, so no one objects. Meanwhile, there is some hope that senators will grow a little spine as they contemplate his various cabinet appointees. Some are at least familiar with the basics of our government – stuff like three branches and no king. Others, not so much. I can’t wait to see if nominees will get background checks and if the Senate holds actual confirmation hearings. 

Health Care Anger

Periodically, I get angry at our health care system. That said, I don’t support assassinations of health care executives. Still, when I see YouTube videos with doctors saying things like, “a traumatic brain injury can last a lifetime,” I think, where were these docs when we needed them? Several years ago, when a certain friend was struggling with things as he did in the first few years after his TBI, I called two regional medical centers to see if I could get an appointment for him. Their first question was, “How long since his injury?” Decades, I responded. “Oh, well we don’t admit anyone to our program more than two years after an injury.” TWO YEARS??? WFT! Yeah, I get angry.

Hibernation, Anyone?

Why can’t we just hibernate during the winter? Wake up for holidays, then go back to sleep. Especially in the gloomy northwest. Even the winter sun is a problem because it aims right at my eyes when I’m driving. Yup. Hibernation!

 Seahawks

What is one to do with a floundering football team? The Seahawks are above .500 for now, but not by much. And even the games they win are hard to watch. Fumbles, interceptions, yellow flags, honestly it’s a miracle they win any. What to do, what to do???

SCOTUS

What is one to do with the Supreme Court? Yes, our Supreme Court, i.e. SCOTUS? This past week, they listened to arguments regarding a Tennessee law prohibiting medical transitions for minors. (You can find the transcript online.) Sadly, the only justices who seemed grounded in reality were the conservative ones. The liberals (remember Justice Jackson who couldn’t really say what a woman is because she’s not a biologist?) were off in la-la land with the trans-rights activists. Sigh. I just hate it when I have to rely on conservatives to stay tethered to earth. 

Swedish Death Cleaning

We have too much stuff and are too mired in winter lethargy to deal with it. A friend recently recommended a book about Swedish death cleaning. I started it, but wandered down a path of self-recrimination for not tending to such. Actually, it’s not just winter lethargy. We have opted not to deal with the stuff during all seasons for the past several years. A certain friend thinks we should sell it online. I can’t imagine gearing up for such an activity, so yesterday I actually emailed an estate sale agent nearby. Sadly, I waited until after 2:00, their office closing time on Saturdays, so I have to wait until Tuesday for a reply. Some of our stuff is worth some amount of money, but not so much that we are counting on it for our waning years. Check back with us in a year. 

Power Outages

We survived our first power outage in our new home. We were warned about big wind storms when we moved here, so we brought the porch chairs and the garbage bins inside. Then we watched TV until it blinked out about 7:00 p.m. First night, not too bad. Next day, (short winter day, remember), chilly but survivable. Second night: chillier than the first. Second day: we headed to Seattle. We had reservations at a hotel for our anniversary weekend, and decided to go a day early. Smart! Power came back 72 hours after it blinked out. Many others suffered much longer than we did.

Spare Heat

Some of our neighbors are planning to buy generators, but I think we will skip that solution. Been there, done that. We got a generator after a few outages at our Skagit house. But the problem with a generator is that it needs fuel. Usually gasoline. Which means you need to have it on hand just in case the power goes out because when the power goes out, the gas stations shut down. How much fuel? Depends on how big your generator is and how long you run it. We just ran ours for a couple of hours in the morning and evening to keep the fridge cool and run the furnace for a bit. But we had a propane stove, propane fireplaces, and propane lanterns. The house wasn’t toasty, but it was tolerable. What I really want here is a gas fireplace. I might even get out of bed to go shopping for that!

The End

I could go on, but I think I’ll do more odds and ends in the new year. Be well, folks.

Hope and Fears as I Cast My Ballot

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I’ll be voting a split ticket today, some Rs, some Ds. Historically, I’ve voted straight tickets, but this year I just can’t. I’ll be voting for Harris/Walz on the national scene, but for Dave Reichert for governor of WA and probably for the Republican for attorney general. Reichert is the most normal, reasonable Republican to make it to the general election ballot in years, and I am anxious for a change in Olympia. 

My concerns at the state level are with a too-soft approach to crime and a too-woke approach to education. Not to worry, lefty friends, there is no chance that Reichert will win. I’ll continue to be a lonely centrist in a far left state come January.

The national election is too close to call as of today, October 22, 2024. I am anxious about it. My curious streak wants to see what would happen if Trump were to win. Would our fears be realized? Would the world as we know it vanish before our eyes? I’m not willing to risk it, so I’ll be voting for Harris, but I’m anxious about the future even if she wins. 

I have a wild set of hopes and fears if Harris takes the oath in January. Yes, I’d love to see a capable woman become president! And Harris is good enough for me. The long row of white men who have preceded her in the office have not necessarily been the best men in the country at their time. They’ve succeeded in winning for a variety of reasons. Most of them grew in competence while in office. (I can’t imagine that anyone is ready to assume the job of leader of the free world on Day 1.) Harris will be a fast learner, and her values and goals are fine with me…

…With a couple of concerns: Just how woke is she? Can she support the rights of trans adults while accepting the need to temper the demands of the most extreme trans activists with regard to children? Can she temper the enthusiasm of public schools to denigrate both our history and the legitimate accomplishments of western culture? Can she address concerns about the criminal justice system the way she did in her book, “Smart on Crime,” rather than follow the radicals who ruled in 2020? 

On the international scene, I have hopes that Harris will be more supportive of Ukraine than Biden has been, and by that I mean I hope she will support the goal of winning in Ukraine, not just fighting until everyone is exhausted.Trump would just give the Donbas and Crimea to Putin and wash his hands of it all. At least, if she wins, we won’t be pulling the rug out from under Ukraine immediately. 

As for Israel, I don’t have confidence in either Trump or Harris. No one knows what Trump would do. He has insisted that October 7 would not have happened if he’d been in office, Ukraine would not have been invaded, no bad things at all. BS, in my mind. I don’t think his craziness, which he now cultivates as an asset, will prevent all bad things. So what would he actually do for the Middle East? I’m confident that even he has no idea.

What about Harris? More restraints on Israel? Fewer restraints? Could she find moderate Muslim partners to rebuild Gaza? Two States for Two Peoples! Yada, yada, yada. Create a Palestinian state without a complete change of heart by Palestinian leaders willing to accept Israel vocally, in public, risking assassination by doing so – that would mean two states armed sufficiently to maintain order, but also armed for self defense. Personally, I think it will take at least a generation of calm, perhaps longer, before Israel would again consider two equal states. But a Palestinian “starter state?” We should at least talk about it.

People can change. I’ve seen it. My father’s family was just fine with Jim Crow. Separate drinking fountains? Fine with them. Separate schools, of course. Separate public accommodations, sure. And then? They let it go. They didn’t all accept the equality of black and white, but they let go of Jim Crow, and many black Americans have taken advantage of opportunities afforded to them. Remember, though, that we were not rushing to bomb shelters, within our homes, when rockets were fired at us by the victims of Jim Crow. No one had armed them hoping to obliterate us. Rather, we had a leader who spoke courageously of judging people by the content of their character, not the color of their skin.

Palestinians who might have had the potential to become voices for peaceful coexistence have been systematically “taken out” by Hamas and others. Will any surface from the rubble of Gaza? I trust Harris much more than Trump to find them if they are there and work with them. 

Hopes and fears. I have some hopes and many fears as I cast my ballot this year. How about you?

An Interesting Ballot This Year

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I just voted in the Washington State 2024 Primary election. Mail ballot, of course (which I love, and which some people don’t, for reasons I do not understand). For the first time ever, I approached the ballot as an independent, … Continue reading →

But He’s a Jew!

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Are you in a tizzy wondering if Kamala Harris will make the right pick for her VP nomination? You’ve seen the short list: Gretchen Whitmer (no, because we’re just not ready for two women on the ballot), or Andy Beshear … Continue reading →