62 thoughts on “A State of Grace”

  1. hats off and kudos to trail friend Jamie and her neighbors.

    here’s why from David Horsey’s op ed in The Seattle Times linked above:

    If one could ignore the results of the presidential election — which, of course, is humanly impossible — Election Day was a triumph for Democrats in the Evergreen State.
    Following a four-decade pattern, Washington picked a Democrat to be governor. And, as Attorney General Bob Ferguson moves to that top job, he is being replaced in the AG role by Democrat Nick Brown. It appears all other state government offices will also continue to be held by Democrats. Most won easily, with the exception of the Democrats’ lands commissioner candidate, Dave Upthegrove, who, as final votes are being counted, continues to lead his opponent, Jaime Herrera Beutler. Very likely Herrera Beutler performed better than any other Republican running statewide because, as a member of Congress, she voted to impeach President Donald Trump after he sparked the insurrectionist attack on the U.S. Capitol.
    Democratic U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell easily won another term, as did all the Democratic members of the state’s congressional delegation, with the exception of the 3rd District’s Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, who remains in a tight race but appears likely to beat her hyper-MAGA opponent, Joe Kent.
    All this good news for Democrats is unsurprising. Washington has been a dependably blue state for decades now. Still, given the way Trump expanded his winning margin across much of the country in comparison with his two previous campaigns, this liberal corner of the USA feels even more estranged from the right-wing populist swing the nation has taken.

  2. BTW, this about the talented ‘toonist of the day:

    David Horsey; is a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist for The Seattle Times. His latest book is “Drawing Apart: Political Cartoons from a Polarized America.”

  4. applicable to both planets one and two, maher last night talked trash but of a different sort than his usual

    Here’s the thing: there actually is an island of garbage in the ocean – but the only person who mentioned it during the whole campaign was Trump’s insult comic.

  5. I see in the coach a starry glimmer forward thru these dark days before us.  so too it seems does one of MN’s newspapers the minnpost that describes itself as “Nonprofit, independent journalism. Supported by readers.” 
    perhaps this wasn’t his swan song but a prelude to 2028.

    Walz speech: Swallow pride, find common ground with neighbors

    […]
    “It’s hard. It’s hard to lose,” he told an audience that frequently interrupted his remarks with applause. “It’s hard to understand why so many of our fellow citizens, people we have fought so long and hard for, wound up choosing the other path.
    “So if you’re feeling deflated, discouraged today, I get it,” he said. “Take some time, take care of yourselves, take care of your loved ones, take care of your community. And get back in this fight when you’re ready. And know that whenever you’re ready to get back into that fight, I’ll be standing right here, ready to fight the fight with you. Because even in the face of defeat and deep disappointment, I’ve never felt more inspired. I’ve never felt more motivated. I’ve never felt more fired up about what’s possible in this country.
    Walz thanked Harris for choosing him as her running mate and for waging a campaign he described as “joyous and powerful.” But he did not mention President-Elect Donald Trump by name, only as the other side or opponents.
    “I know a lot of folks are worried about the next four years and what they are going to look like,” Walz told invited DFL elected officials, campaign workers, cabinet commissioners and volunteers at Eagan High School. “I’m one of them. The agenda we heard from the other side in this campaign is very different from the one you know is right for our state and our country.
    “We know what’s coming down the pike,” he said. “We know it because they told us. And we’re gonna have to be ready to defend the progress we made in Minnesota.” Walz said he will take Trump up on his rhetoric that certain issues should be left to the states.
    “I’m willing to take them at their word for that. But the moment they try to bring a hateful agenda into this state, I’m ready to stand up and fight,” he said. And in a series of clauses that began with “As long as I am governor of Minnesota …” Walz said he would defend reproductive rights, welcome immigrants, fight climate change, defend children’s right to attend school without worrying about gun violence, respect democracy and stand up for working people “no matter who they voted for.”
    Walz said that 1.5 million voters in Minnesota voted for Trump and vice-president-elect JD Vance “and while there might not be a place in our state for the most-extreme elements of that agenda, there should be a place in our politics for everyone to be heard.
    “Sometimes we can be quick to judge people who don’t agree with us, to assume that they act out of cruelty or fear or self-interest,” Walz said. “I don’t think that kind of judgment is helpful right now and I don’t think it’s right. I think we — and I’m speaking about myself — need to swallow a little bit of pride and try harder to find common ground with our neighbors who didn’t vote like we did.
    “Maybe we won’t agree on many issues, hell maybe we won’t agree on any issues but maybe when the campaign signs come down, we all get a little break from the rhetoric, a little break from the TV ads and the fundraising texts — and I’m sorry about those — we’ll be able to look at each other and see not enemies, but neighbors,….

  6. sooo if as some say america isn’t ready or ever will be ready to elect a woman prez, at least it’s ready to listen to and maybe even elect a football coach who respects, values and treats women as equals.   

  7. I spent a few days in Chicago. While there, I saw a sign that I thought would be perfect to put on The White House. Please excuse part of the grammar that’s on it.

  8. We watched Real Time last night in real time. I think it was supposed to be his final show of the lengthy season but he announced he’s coming back for two more. Big change in tone, no jerking-off-two-guys-at-once memes, I’d say we’ve seen the last of that. My guess is Bill doesn’t want to be seen going out as a sore loser. Didn’t find any of the jokes especially amusing. John Heilemann was good. I miss his Circus show. Thanks anyway, Bill, but I think I’ll hang on to my anger and resentment for a little while longer.

  9. I bought one of those fancy oxo coffee makers….  it cost $180….  lasted 2 1/2 years.  I looked at buying a new one and now it will cost $200.  I went to target last month and said… fuck it, I’m buying the cheap Mr. Coffee for $25.
    I’ve been very happy with it.

  10. I Study Guys Like Trump. There’s a Reason They Keep Winning

    Free link to an outstanding NYT essay by Obama deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes:

    “The playbook for transforming a democracy into a soft autocracy was clear: Win power with a populist message against elites. Redraw parliamentary districts. Change voting laws. Harass civil society. Pack courts with judges willing to support power grabs. Enrich cronies through corruption. Buy up newspapers and television stations and turn them into right-wing propaganda. Use social media to energize supporters. Wrap it up in an Us versus Them message: Us, the “real” Russians or Hungarians or Americans, against a rotating cast of Them: the migrants, the Muslims, the liberals, the gays, George Soros and on and on.”

    https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/08/opinion/republicans-democrats-trump.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Yk4.IWvQ.Qi6dKuyhCKlY&smid=url-share

    null

  11. Ivy… I watched Bill Maher too….  haven’t watched him in a long time.
    One thing he said I totally agree with….  I’m not following every misstep that trump does and going down that rabbit hole for the next 4 yrs.  Now that I’m older…  I’m not wasting my time on constant angst.  Life is too precious.

  13. My Texas team was begging for one of them to go on with their fellow Austinian (or whatever they are) Joe Rogan. They avidly listen to Joe the same as I once listened to Imus. They were disappointed, and also with the endorsement, but they won’t stop listening to him. 
     
    I get the getting over it, of course, for most people. But some of us still lack the justice we need for our loved ones memory, though it looks like we may never receive that in our own lifetimes.

  14. We have a12cup Cuisinart at home $15 at the Hanitat store and another in the garage  – fancy ass Ninja  $35 at Christian Crossings (a splurge). I’m sure the Ninja was there because it is complicated and not intuitive, but in a couple months I figured it out. 

  15. It will be easy for me to not go down the rabbit holes because I will be skimming and skipping over news, shows, jokes about trump to every extent I can. Last time, it started off funny, all his ridiculousness. This time it’s starting as Greek tragedy. 

  16. I disagree with Maher on tracking their playbook for turning us into a soft autocracy. From grass roots on up every step of the way should be widely followed. Demoralizing the opposition is a big part of their to-do list.

  17. Kara Swisher stopped me in my tracks as I was frying egg and sausage a while ago…she said Dems should have thrown the process into a sort of mini-convention when Joe bowed out, hinting, IMO, that why would they cast the VP of an unpopular chief to run against the MAGA zealot who was blowing away the polling of men voters who, now obviously , are so goddam misogynistic they would never vote for a woman, the pinhead bastards.  And I took an avalanche of hate when I suggested the same process, and if Kamala would emerge, so be it. I made my stance that Josh Shapiro would be a better choice, as I believed Pennsylvania would go blue then . Pennsylvania did not.  I was shocked when Swisher said the same thing.  So the dissection will continue until the inauguration, then be confined to history files, as we must move on…move on then, not before. We have to explore what crashed the airplane so it hopefully will not happen in 2028. 
    Now with confirmation that Iranian agents are bent on killing Trump, what will happen, really? Two botched attempts failed, but this last deal was with Iranian expert killers. I keep thinking of the assassination of Anwar Sadat. “On 6 October 1981, Sadat was assassinated during the annual victory parade held in Cairo to celebrate Egypt’s crossing of the Suez Canal. Islambouli emptied his assault rifle into Sadat’s body while in the front of the grandstand, mortally wounding the President.” GOOGLE general searching employed….
    We don’t want an assassination.  We want peace in Gaza, not a genocidal combination of Netanyahu and Trump wiping out every living soul in Gaza.

  18. Yesterday is a circle the date for me event.  It is something I started working on a few years ago, getting rid of the blasted cable television and stupid worthless phone part of my cable bill.  About twice a year I would call in to do that and end up with a cheaper price to keep the three, television phone and internet, than to go internet only. 
     
    Last week my router died, no outputs.  Instead of calling in, I did the online testing and resetting, did not revive the dead. Yesterday, I did the online chat thing, and ended up with a technician who offered me internet only!  I typed in “do it”. Well the system would not let him, so I was moved up the chain.
     
    Next one pushed the whole enchilada, I want the internet only deal. Up the chain. After another thirty minutes I got internet only, and it is over one hundred dollars cheaper this time to go with that.  Total time on “chat” two hours thirty minutes. That includes troubleshooting, and being stubborn.
     
    The last time I was internet only was 2009.  I was under the Comcast fist and hated it.  Digital television was easy, I was in direct line of all the antennas on top of Lookout Mountain in Denver, so I had no need for the degraded Comcast cable. The cable plans were internet and television, phone thing was still in the future. Netflix was mailed DVD’s.  Now I just have to clear a path for the technician to remove the old stuff.  Eleven years of living and somethings just get lost in the bits of life.

  19. https://thehill.com/business/4982216-cuban-implies-trumps-tariff-threat-already-having-effect/

     
    Mark Cuban on tRUMPsky tanking the economy with tariffs:

    “Right now every company that imports from China is taking all the cash they can muster, and buying up as much as they can and stuffing it in a warehouse, in anticipation of the tariffs creating accelerated demand for imports,” Cuban wrote on the social platform Threads on Friday.

    “That money would have been used for expansion, raises, bonuses and other operational elements,” he added.

    In his posts on Threads, Cuban warned that “on the flip side, companies that export are expecting retaliatory tariffs. So they are calling their Chinese buyers and begging them to do what American companies are doing, buying up all the can.” Trade and manufacturing experts have said Trump’s tariff threats are already having an effect on global supply chains.

    Cuban suggested that this leads to “more sales,” though now they’ll have to “accelerate buying up all the components in the bill of materials,” which could lead to price spikes.
    “This is all happening right now,” Cuban cautioned.
     
     
    Which may hold off tariff impacts for awhile, which is good because it gives more separation from Biden’s economy which is actually good except for food and shelter. I wish he had listened to me whining about fixing that for the last two-plus years. Harris still wouldn’t have won over the racists and/or misogynists nor the Gaza protestors, though. This wasn’t just about the price of eggs.

  20. Corey – Did Melania do the signage for that establishment? 

    Craig – We are different than other places in the world. The idea of liberty is baked in. We get knocked down, lick our wounds, and then get even more pissed off. And, there will be more angry folks once Adolf’s policies impact them. They’ll never admit they were wrong, but they will turn on the SOB. That’s all we need from them, to recognize Adolf as our common enemy; the real enemy within. Every accusation from Orange Adolf was a projection.

  23. Cholesterol, baby!  

    Hope he clutches his chest and tips over soon…or on TV, right as he puts his hand on a Bible to lie about upholding the US Constitution.

  24. https://www.texastribune.org/2024/11/08/transgender-ads-motivate-texas-republicans/

    In the final weeks of a heated reelection campaign, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz released a television ad with a simple message — “Boys and girls: They’re different.”

    In the ad, Cruz accused his Democratic challenger, Colin Allred, of wanting boys to play on girls’ sports teams. Allred released his own ad vehemently denying the claim. Neither mentioned that the Texas Legislature had already banned student athletes from playing on teams that didn’t match the sex they were assigned at birth.

    *Also, Colin Allred is black.  Don’t think that didn’t play into the loss, in addition to trans hate.     I’m sure all of the haters go to church every Sunday, though.

  27. I have a bean grinder with adjustable grinds (you need coarse for french press) and I can also make my own refillable Keurig pods. 

  28. He’s probably wearing a heart monitor and they will rush him in for that emergency triple bypass. 

  29. https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/09/us/4b-movement-trump-south-korea-wellness-cec/index.html

    “Young liberal women across TikTok and Instagram are discussing and sharing information about the South Korean feminist movement, in which straight women refuse to marry, have children, date or have sex with men.
    These women say they are enraged and fed up after a majority of their male counterparts voted for a candidate who was found liable for sexual abuse and whose appointment of three conservative Supreme Court justices led to the overturning of national abortion rights protections.
    “We have pandered and begged for men’s safety and done all the things that we were supposed to, and they still hate us,” Ashli Pollard, a 36-year-old in St. Louis, told CNN.  “So if you’re going to hate us, then we’re going to do what we want.”
    4B is a shorthand for the four Korean words bihon, bichulsan, biyeonae and bisekseu, which translate to no marriage, no childbirth, no dating and no sex with men.
    In 2016, a woman was brutally killed near a Seoul subway station — the perpetrator reportedly said he killed her because he felt ignored by women. The incident prompted a national reckoning around how women are treated in the country, expanding to include conversations around femicide, revenge porn and digital sex crimes.
     
    Some women are discovering the movement anew and are vowing to join. Others who are already married or partnered up say they plan to protest in other ways, such as boycotting male-owned businesses or refusing to do emotional labor for men.”

  30. Dex
    Shapiro would have got his ass kicked too. Maybe not as bad but still…
    Put this loss on Joe Biden, he just had to hang on. I guess it is like RBG on the Supreme Court, the high is so good you just keep lying to your self. 
    Plus, hasn’t any body in the democratic party learned from the Clintons? There is no separation from campaigning and governing. Reagan knew this, Clinton knew this. You trumpet your wins!! And He had them but even the Democrats were clueless as to what was a win. Biden had the “Bully Pulpit” and didn’t use it. 
    Biden was never the best and the brightest, he was just better than Bernie.
    Jack

  31. BiD, not a new idea.  from 2500 years ago
    LYSISTRATA
    I don’t think it has ever been successful,
    It may have something to do with the old joke about the wife who says she is cutting her husband off from sex, His reply is “You can’t, you don’t know where I’m getting it.”
    Jack

  33. So if you’re feeling deflated, discouraged today, I get it,” he said. “Take some time, take care of yourselves, take care of your loved ones, take care of your community.

    Pat, that is kinda where I’m at right now. It is all local for me. I like Walz but I don’t think he has a snow balls chance to get the nod from the Democratic party. 
    Jack

  34. Love the musical Ragtime as it lays out the forces in opposition in 1906 that has now been repeated for 100+ years.

     

  35. On Tuesday a demagogue convinced a slim majority of registered voters to believe a whole bunch of lies and phony promises. That is all we are dealing with here.

    Democracy sucks when the majority gets it wrong, especially when they choose somebody who wants to get rid of it. But just because we were in the minority on voting day doesn’t mean we’re wrong and should go away.

  36. 2028

    Harris, but the racists and misogynists will object

    Buttegeig, but the homophobes will object 

    Ossoff, but the anti-semites will object
     
    Face it.  About half of the country are filled with fear and hatred, despite claiming to be Christians who Jesus told to welcome the stranger and love each other.

  38. Trump is already referring to Newsome as New scum but he will be in the running.  Then there is Beto O’ Rourke.  Not sure about women of the right 40-60 age range with name recognition other than Harris.

     

     

     

     

     

  39. All year Democrats have been bailing out the Republican, saving them from themselves. It is time to stop.  If it burns down the house? Well so be it.  This election proved being Resposible doesn’t get you any votes. The American people have spoke and this time it wasn’t close.  It is what they want then let them have it. Let Trump be Trump and let all those union workers that voted for him enjoy it. I think it is time for the Democrats to rethink letting the unions do their GOTV for them. It didn’t pay.  That is “midcentury modern’ thinking 70 years ago maybe but not now.

  40. Craig
    That is like the immigration bill, they don’t care if it passes or not, they just want the issue.
    Jack

  41. Former Obama speech writer Jesse Moore is making sense (MSNBC):

    “We have to not be furious or confused about this election, and retreat. We have to be fascinated. We have to be curious and hungry for information.”

  42. Craig
    And I suppose he is just the man to help us get there. Sounds like he is passing out his calling card, looking for work. A lot of Democrats doing that right now, hoping for a promotion in the shuffle.
    Jack

  43. tiny trump will get from Joe something he doesn’t deserve and never returns: decency. he won’t get it from me, though. i’m hoping i can summon enough to get through pie-time at thanksgiving – for the kids’ sakes if nothing else. 

  44. Look on the bright side.  A lot can happen in the next, four years.  Heck, there could be another pandemic in the works, or even a nuclear war on January 21st. 

    In the meantime, midterms, midterms, midterms.

  46. biden intended to be a bridge but when DOTUS (soley to keep out of jail) jumped into the race that bridge was rammed collapsing like the Scott Key. IMHO uncle joe at that time of precarious world events and vital legislating at stake had to avoid being seen as a lame duck.   

     

  48. bet this won’t last long no matter how laudable the effort by congress was.

    from daily beast article via msn:

    Donald Trump Banned From Nation’s Secrets by Defying Ethics Laws
    President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House could be a bumpy ride because he has not pledged to avoid conflicts of interest, among other ethical concerns, while in office.
    The New York Times reported that Trump’s transition team missed the Oct. 1 deadline to submit an ethics plan in accordance with the Presidential Transition Act. What’s more is NYT reported that Trump’s assembled transition team has refused to participate in the established transition process, usually beginning months before elections.
    The team has also missed numerous deadlines for signing agreements required to participate in national security meetings and to gain access to federal agencies.
    “While transition planning is private activity, it is deeply connected to the activity of our government and the stewardship of public resources,” said Max Stier, the president and chief executive of the Partnership for Public Service. The nonpartisan group assists presidential candidates with the transition through the Center for Presidential Transition.
    Stier added, “The avoidance of conflicts of interest and the appearance of conflicts of interest is critical to that task.”
    Trump was the very reason Congress amended the Presidential Transition Act law in 2019, which requires candidates to post an ethics plan with “information on how eligible presidential candidates will address their own conflicts of interest during a presidential term.”
    Although Trump’s transition leadership has drafted an ethics code and statement to govern its staff, NYT reported that Trump’s plan was not included.

  50. Campaign 2026 is under way. Those in the legislature know it and are planning and working on fund raising.  We, the peoples, have to join in. 
     
    Just remembered my Predict it guesses.  I do not need to look though, I know what those were. Sigh.

  51. Orange Adolf is an adjudicated rapist and an adjudicated insurrectionist.  States were not allowed to keep him off of their ballots.  
    He should never have been allowed to run, but he was and a lot of folks voted for him (although millions fewer than last time), so the US Constitution has already been treated like trash paper. 

  52. Plant some hot goss and feed it to Adolf, and watch where it ends up.  Presidential immunity should not cover giving state secrets to Putin.  He was not elected to help Russia undermine the US.

    Good news is that he’s old and unhealthy. Bad news is that MAGATitis will infect the US for years to come, even without him.

  54. I’m working on a list of things to try not to say at the Thanksgiving table. Maybe I’ll say them here to get them out of my system first. 

  55. Maybe come up with phrases that sound OK, but mean something else to you, Ivy. 
    Fine, thank you = Go, eff yourself
    Really = Idiot
     

  56. BID, I’ll be so lucky if I can hold myself to those. Like they say about family, they know where your buttons are because they installed them. 

  58. https://time.com/collection/time100-voices/7173801/elizabeth-warren-democrats-plan-after-2024-election/

    “Sen. Elizabeth Warren: Here’s the Plan to Fight Back”
     

    “While still in charge of the Senate and the White House, we must do all we can to safeguard our democracy. To resist Trump’s threats to abuse state power against what he calls “the enemy within,” Pentagon leaders should issue a directive now reiterating that the military’s oath is to the Constitution. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer must use every minute of the end-of-year legislative session to confirm federal judges and key regulators—none of whom can be removed by the next President.”

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