This needs to be remembered:
NYT’s Peter Baker got as close as anyone I’ve seen to what happened to Jimmy Carter’s 1980 reelection campaign.
In article last year Baker reported on the Reagan team’s message to Iran:
“Don’t release the hostages before the election. Mr. Reagan will win and give you a better deal”
yep, and teddy didn’t help things either weakening support early on during the campaign.
didn’t DOTUS-elect hint to nutty yahoo openly dangling a variation of that same “Don’t release the hostages before the election.
Mr. Reagan willI’ll win and give you a better deal” during the 2024 campaign?add to that a revival of weakening support during the campaign for the current POTUS purposely by his very own party.
but, Mr. Whamond, isn’t chaos now the new normal?
Attribution: Normal New Year by Dave Whamond, Canada, PoliticalCartoons.com
aside from all that, inquiring minds really want to know
Well, 2024 is almost over, and not a minute too soon. And I had so much hope for it in the third and first month of the fourth quarters. The worst part of it is that 2025 looms with Dumbass dominating the landscape, and that’s definitely nothing to look forward to.
An old Newsday article answers the question, why the dropping ball for New Year’s Eve in Times Square? It was inspired by the clock on the downtown Western Union Telegraph Company building, which for decades had dropped an iron ball from its rooftop every day at noon. That echoed a longstanding maritime tradition of ports dropping a ball at a specific time every day, allowing ship captains to precisely adjust their navigational instruments.
https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition/105829362/
Carter put solar panels on top of the White House. Reagan took them down.
Fun while it lasted. D.C. Removes Phony Anti-Trump ‘Trash’ Ad Posted in Washington: ‘Not Created, Funded, or Authorized’
A friend at the Energy Dept writes, “His administration founded the Energy Department and the Solar Energy Research Institute in Colorado, which became a DOE lab now known as National Renewable Energy Laboratory.”
Craig – that is SERI NREL on top of Table Mountain, alongside I-70 on the way to Coors, oops I mean Golden. At one time I was supposed to go there to work on something on the mesa, but was cancelled at the last minute. Lots of politicians used to go there for publicity shots.
Bob Dylan on his friendship with Jimmy Carter:
Jimmy always got a bad rap. I certainly hope the organizers of his funeral made clear to Dumbass that he’s not welcome. Jimmy probably wouldn’t exclude him but funerals are for the living, not the dead.
today’s meme…
meme #2….
This is my college buddy. We took a semester off to work in the ’76 campaign.
Clay Henderson: Jimmy Carter inspired me to be an environmentalist https://www.news-journalonline.com/story/opinion/columns/guest/2024/12/31/meeting-jimmy-carter-life-changing-new-smyrna-beach-native-writes/77319837007/
About Carter
It was a tough time to be President and he was not afraid to make the tough decisions. He pardoned the draft dodgers, signed the Panama canal treaty, established diplomatic relations with China, did the first step to getting inflation under control by appointing Volker as head of Fed., negotiated the only lasting Middle East peace deal. Also, what seems strange in todays politics, he ran on the pledge “I will not lie to you” and mostly kept it.
All in all he was an honorable man, no wonder the powers that be at the time worked so hard to drive him out of office.
Jack
I took down my American flag from my flagpole and am now flying the United Federation of planets flag. In case someone protests, I am also flying the Klingon battle flag under it. With the help of the Klingons, we are prepared to defend our newly sovereign territory.
I live 2 blocks from the world headquarters of Bass pro, They carry plenty of ammunition so, in case of trouble, resupplying should be no trouble.
Happy New Year,
Jack
Will “The Eel” be getting his own bedroom at the White House?
Happy (?) New Year all
Carter deregulated the brewing industry and trucking. As a result, as I drink a Boulevard Wheat craft beer with my lunch, I am watching the UPS man deliver my sanding belts. I bought them from a small business man in Indiana.
Jack
A New Year’s Eve play list.
What I’m reading.
Nepal’s kung fu nuns.
And so the world progresses
Jack
There will be a party at Mar-a-Ego tonight, per Elon. That property is in Florida. Florida has a lot of sink holes, and even more have shown up since Hurricane Milton. Just wanted to put that out into the universe.
Finally getting around to hanging out a few security cameras. Black Friday/White Monday whatever sale. I start getting boxes of systems. I thought I ordered two and some extras. I ended up with four systems, parts plus for two more. I am not sure, but sometime around July fourth I sort or remember looking at the website and some systems, maybe I had a cart, not sure I did. So now I can put cameras where I never planned on them. On boats it is good practice to have a couple in the engine room to make sure all is good there. The birds will like a camera on the feeder, oh, and one on the water tub. And, my brother will like a system for his home.
Getting old results in some interesting things happening.
Happy NYE
I was too young to vote for Grits & Fritz in ‘76, but I did get to go on a trip with a bunch of kids in March of ‘79. We were in DC as folks were leaving the WH grounds after the signing. Some of us went to the Lincoln Memorial for a candlelight vigil that night. Wouldn’t it be funny if Craig and I saw each other and didn’t know it.
Our thrilling New Years Eve was driving a bunch of junk to the dump (so long 2024), followed by a rewarding meal at Red Lobster to help them out of bankruptcy. Great meal, they’re on the mend. Hello 2025! Tonight we’ll binge on Jean Smart playing an aging comedian on the comeback trail in the new season of Hacks on MAX,
It is officially 2025 in Athens. Happy New Year!
The last year that started with WTF was 2020.
https://www.inverse.com/science/voyager-1-2-missions-nasa
“The summer of 1977 was a great time to be a space nerd. Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope was a summer blockbuster. NASA was testing its futuristic Space Shuttle in the Mojave Desert. And, on August 2 and September 5, Voyager 2 and 1, respectively, blasted off from Florida on their way to tour the enigmatic giant worlds of the outer solar system. The summer of 1977 changed our view of outer space forever.”
“Thanks to the Voyagers, NASA knew it was worth launching the Galileo mission to Jupiter and the Cassini mission to Saturn.”
“The trips were only possible because of a rare alignment of the planets. Our Solar System’s massive outermost worlds lumber slowly along wide, long orbits: Jupiter takes about 12 years to make a lap around the Sun, while Uranus takes 84; Neptune orbits the Sun in such a wide circle that its orbit takes a staggering 165 years to complete. But once every 175 years, the planets happen to pass the same point in their orbits at the same time, so that from Earth’s viewpoint they all line up in a roughly straight line.”
Best seat in the house
https://www.rawstory.com/donald-trump-jr-new-years-eve/
“Don Jr. trashes New Year’s at Mar-a-Lago: Dad’s pals treat me like a ‘freaking imbecile’
While speaking on Monday’s Triggered podcast, Trump said ringing in the New Year at Mar-a-Lago would be “a little rough.”
Donald Trump Jr. revealed that he dreaded attending the annual New Year’s Eve party at Mar-a-Lago because his father’s drunk friends treat him like a “freaking imbecile.”
“My birthday is New Year’s Eve… I get older,” he complained. “I was a kid, New Year’s Eve was a lot better because it was like, there’s always something to do. There’s always a party.”
“This’ll be like year, like nine of, ‘Hey, you know, have you ever thought to maybe have your dad not tweet that?'” he griped. “I’m like, no, I’ve never thought that ’cause I’m a freaking imbecile.”
*Which means he thinks his father is a freaking imbecile for the crap he posts. Why doesn’t Cokey McSnorts-A-Lot like drunks? How does he feel about a ketamine-fueled South African?
Poor Baby.
“Having a late December birthday sucks…” Birthday presents get lumped in with other holiday gifts. The weather is often terrible (in the northern hemisphere, at least). Many family and friends are out of town, and those who remain are often too exhausted from all the other celebrations to put in much effort for a birthday.
Think of poor Ivana. She had to miss the party that year.
Dumbass Jr. what a fucking narcissistic imbecile. My b’day is 12/23. He’s full of shit. I’m guessing neither of his parents liked him.
Happy belated b’day, Pogo.
In other news, lightening lit up the US Capitol tonight.
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