The Pivot

        I guess the election is over.   David Brooks at the NYT says Wednesday's debate is all the proof he needs.   Remember that scary black woman, Kamala Harris.   The most liberal senator in America, who makes Bernie Sanders look like a John Birch society reject.   Well, according to Brooks, possibly the most self serving twit in the mainstream media, Harris and the head of the ticket, Joe Biden have given up all their left wing dreams in an effort to satisfy his desire for the good ole days when you could barely tell the difference between the parties.

       Brooks lives in a hazy dream where it is easy to pretend one of the major parties in our two party system has given up any pretense of governing and is instead doing its utmost to retain power in the face of overwhelming opposition.   The GOP of tRump and Moscow Mitch don't care if Kamala Harris has  made an about face on income inequality, medicare for all and half a dozen other Republican shibboleths.   But, according to Brooks, now that she has shed her left wing dreams, Harris and the Democrats are now fit to once again bring America back from the brink.   If only it was that easy.

The real winner

        I have to say that as a good Democrat, I listened to the debate last night for a chance to see how Kamala Harris would handle the blizzard of lies Mike Pence was sure to spout with little or no conscience.   As the Q&A wore on, it became apparent Pence was going for a "mansplaining" moment as he interrupted Harris, talked over her and continued to revisit topics after the moderator adjured it was time to move on.  Still, on balance I thought he played a bad hand fairly well.

        However, neither the Divine Mrs. M, who sat next to me for most of the show, nor the women pundits on MSNBC were having none of that.   They were channeling every woman who was ever put down, talked over, mansplained or otherwise ignored by a man with some power over her.   No matter what else Pence was saying, and it was mostly a bunch of self serving lies, his casual assumption he knew more and better than a black woman with far better education and career bona fides was maddening to most women who bothered to listen.   Mea Culpa ladies, I stand corrected.

The Master's voice

        In a bout of probably steroid induced pique, the president* tweeted he was ending talks with Congress regarding Covid 19 relief legislation.   Within minutes, the stock market declined precipitously and within hours, Cheetolini started to walk back his message of intransigence.

       If there is one economic indicator tRump respects and reveres for some reason, it is the stock market.  Despite any president's marginal effect on stock prices, he feels a strong market is proof of his mastery of the economy.   In reality, the market has risen at the same rate during his presidency* as that of his predecessor, so there is little to brag about.  But, having hitched himself to this particular wagon, it would seem to be political suicide to say things which would bring the market down.   Shutting off the spigot of government spending at a time when the Federal Reserve Board Chairman is literally begging for another round of stimulus is a strange play,  to say the least.  

      tRump is down by as many as 16 points in polls released in the aftermath of the first and likely last presidential debate.  Most Americans blame him for his failure to stay coronavirus free.   To blow up his claim to be a master of the economy seems unbelievable on its face, especially 30 days from an election which is shaping up to be a Biden landslide.   Maybe someone should check the dose of steroids the old boy is on.   'Roid rage, indeed.

Gardening in a North Country Fall

       Having pulled out the old chestnut "it was the best of times, it was the worst of times", I'm still going to use it regarding my continuing struggle to garden in the north country during the fall.   

      By relentlessly planting during the driest summer in my experience, I set the table for a bountiful fall harvest.   As mid September approached, my last planting of beans was beginning to blossom.  Late summer squash plants were producing and fall spinach and lettuce looked good.  Then Mom Nature reminded me we live on borrowed time.  A mid month frost put paid the summer vegetables and severely set back the late brassicas like broccoli and cauliflower.   Adding 2 inches of rain which would have been a godsend in July just added salt to the wound.

      Flash forward 2 weeks and the late fall veg is trying to make a comeback in October.  Milder weather this week will help the last 3 plantings of lettuce, bok choy and nappa cabbage.  The late broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower may  or may not head, but they are trying.   Dickens must have known a gardener or three!

Lies and the lying liars who tell them

        Any chance that the president* would inspire any sympathy for his contraction of Covid 19 was firmly put down by his irresponsible behavior and endangerment of his secret service protection detail yesterday so he could soak up some adulation from his fans outside Walter Reade hospital.   Riding around in a hermetically sealed vehicle while still infectious seems like the height of bad judgement and a confirmation of a diagnosis of sociopathy in the case of the commander in chief.

       As many of the over 7 million Americans who have been infected by the virus have found, just surviving the disease is a scary journey.  However, being treated by a phalanx of doctors and nurses who employed every medication which has shown to be effective in treating Covid 19 is something virtually no one of his fellows has experienced.   In his drive to prove his Alpha male status, Cheetolini has put this team and anyone else involved in his care in danger.

      Also, he has once again corrupted the reputation of professionals by coopting  them to lie regarding his medications, course of treatment and prognosis.  November 3rd can't come soon enough.

The national nightmare continues

        Since it is already out there in liberal leaning blogs and the national media, I'm sure in the wake of Cheetolini and Melania testing positive for coronavirus speculation about presidential succession is also happening in wingnuttia.    Since Pence has been in close contact with POTUS, he may very well test positive also.   Should both of these elderly men show heavy duty symptoms and are hospitalized and possibly intubated, we all know who is next in line to assume the duties of the presidency.   

       While I hope the president* and the VP recover in time to be whipped in  the election, I also hope the Speaker is in isolation today and will remain so until there is definitive news regarding tRump.  The old boy is morbidly obese, which is one of the co-morbidities most likely to put you at risk of hospitalization.  However, considering how transparent the White House has been regarding the president's* health, I'm sure we will be getting up to the minute news.   In the meantime, thoughts and prayers...

The media can't quit him

           2 days after the presidential debate in Cleveland, the media still can't get its collective head around the worst performance in this format since it became a thing in the 1960 race between Kennedy and Nixon.   Most commentators have seized on tRump's refusal to denounce white supremacy in general and the Proud Boys in particular and are running with stories on the White House refusal to make a clear call for the far right to stand down or face legal consequences.

        I think the entirety of the debate should be covered, especially from the vantage point of our friends and adversaries around the world.  Most thinking people outside the country were genuinely horrified by Cheetolini's sociopathic performance.  

     What does it mean when one party in a two party system has given up all pretense of following democratic norms?   The only way to bring what is left of the Republican party back from the dark side is an electoral defeat of catastrophic proportions.   Virtually every GOPer who has enabled the sickness needs to be defeated.  I'm looking at you, Mitch McConnell and Lindsay Graham.   The racism and  misogyny need to be called out and the structural features which allowed minority rule must be changed.  It all starts with our votes on November 3 or sooner.