Saturday, March 21, 2020

Feeling Blue

So, it was snowing. There wasn't any way anyone could have predicted this, and maybe it was really fluffy rain, or possibly a Democrat hoax to make the weathermen look bad.

At any rate, whatever it was doing, it didn't look like anything I wanted to walk around in. The Hoax People say I shouldn't be walking around anyway. We've got enough food for a while if we're not too precious about the quality of it. We're probably going to find out what those mystery packages in the freezer are. Two of them are sort of yellow and we can't offhand remember any yellow meals we had that we liked.

It's been a weird few days. Not long ago I thought we'd finally gotten Joe Biden off our shoes but he has bounced back in a big way. I had thought Elizabeth Warren would have appealed to a lot of people who were torn between Biden and Bernie but evidently her voice is too high and she is too forthcoming about her plans. Bernie is much better about having the same ideas but not getting into the weeds with answering questions, and Biden is much better about saying things like Now is the time and We must move forward ahead together by cracky. I was terribly disappointed about Warren and slumped for a few days like a hypochondriac in a pandemic, but I've recovered.

And that is because I finally realized it isn't all that important who our figurehead is. We have had a real fine group running for office and many more already elected who are doing good and brave things. Anyone who thinks the parties are all alike at this point would have trouble deciding between a pillow-top mattress and a hill of fire ants.

Oh boy
So what we have now is a team. With a lot of all-stars on it. Biden himself, I recall, impressed me a good deal in one of the debates in 2008. And he is by most accounts a decent guy. It is not the worst thing in the world that he is too moderate for me. And that is because of the other thing I realized: if I had gotten my dream candidate in there, she wouldn't have been able to get the things done she wants to do. She could move things in the right direction, but she would face virulent and massively-funded opposition. Same thing with Bernie. There is no Democratic Socialist fairy. But there is the power of our numbers and our fervor, if we quit sulking and use it.

Those are our marching orders now. If Biden is our candidate, we get in there and let all our representatives know we support them when they fight the plutocracy and their hired vermin in Congress. Let them know we have their backs. The platform of the Democratic Party has not yet been assembled. Pick a plank and grab a hammer.

And if you are one of those idealists who is crowing about how you'll leave your ballot blank if you don't get your man? I'm going to guess you're a child. A white child, with no personal skin in the game, who is in a position to ride out someone else's storm.

I know how dismissive this is, and I happen to agree that Boomers have made a hash of things and deserve your derision (although you'd have been the same way)--but there is something that old people have earned just by staying alive, and that is perspective. We've seen this show before. We were idealistic too. We haven't given up our ideals, either, but we understand it takes longer and more sustained work than one just election. We'd like to keep all the fossil fuels in the ground starting yesterday too, but it's not going to happen merely by winning the vote. If there's any hope for it at all, it's going to happen by some cataclysm out of our control that will--much later--be seen as a blessing. A virus that shuts down commerce and transportation. A mass famine. A small asteroid.

But that doesn't mean it doesn't matter what we do. Try to imagine where we'd be if Gore had won in 2000. We wouldn't have started a war in the Middle East. We would have started to turn the climate ship around. The billionaires would have done their damnedest to prevent us, and we wouldn't have gotten enough done, but we'd be a lot further ahead. This is no time for petulance. Hold your nose if you must but vote for the Democratic candidate for President. Don't think of it as voting for some old fart. Think of it as voting for Biden Bernie Warren Harris Buttigieg Yang Abrams Inslee and Klobuchar. It's a damn fine group.

49 comments:

  1. I was pissed at the way Biden handled the Cavanaugh hearing. I agree with Prof Hill that an apology is not enough; but, I do believe the man has evolved enough for me to vote for him - even if far, far, too many people failed to extend the same benefit to Sec'y Clinton. (And, why are we not allowed to call out sexism on that one?)

    It doesn't really seem to matter. In case no one has noticed, our whole friggin gummint is now acting like a bunch a socialists. Of course, they always did, as Sen Sanders pointed out, apply socialism to the fat cats and big corporations. It's only the poor and/or common folk who were subjected to rabid capitalism.

    BTW: I still can't get my head around thinking of Boomers as being old. Old is being a member of the Greatest or Silent generation.
    Cop Car

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    1. Hey wait! I'm a silent, and I'm not dead....yet....am I?

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    2. Great philosophical question! How do we actually KNOW that we are alive? I tend to think that when we are dead, that's all folks. But my mom, as well as my grandmom, when dying, all thought they saw their relatives that had already died, spoke to them, and seemed astounded that nobody else saw them. Is that some kind of mechanism in the brain that lulls us into a complacent state as we die? And, if it is, why doesn't it do SHIT for us when we are going through menopause? Or, IS there something else beyond this? Thoughts?

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  2. I read an amazing little piece on Twitter by a woman of color, who essentially said that a thing she admired about Biden was that he cheerfully took a backseat to an educated, charismatic black man and learned from him. Not many pols would do that, I think. Too much ego, but Joe did it.

    I'm also bummed about Warren, but five words make me feel better: Senate Majority Leader Elizabeth Warren.

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    1. From your keyboard to god/ess'email accounts.

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    2. Thank you for turning my head around on this - had briefly, very, thought petulantly of NOT voting, but quickly recovered from that, as that's how we got here from 2016. Senate Majority Leader Warren! Yay!

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    3. Sonoran Carol--You get it. Too many people have told me, "I didn't vote for Trump." But...neither did they vote for Clinton, so I judge them as being responsible for Trump.
      Cop Car
      P.S. I can't complain too loudly. I've always voted, but I threw my vote away on 3rd party candidates on occasion - in my much younger days. I voted for John Anderson, after all.

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    4. Third party candidates are an exercise in futility! The system is GEARED to a 2-party system! PLEASE, OH PLEASE, don't anyone throw away your votes THIS time! Too much is riding on this!

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  3. I've lived in Delaware all my life, and Biden has been a politician here for most of it. He seems like an upright guy. As a restaurant employee at a popular destination in his area, my husband has waited on him many times. He's always been cordial, generous, and just a great guy overall. A lot of wealthy people are dismissive of the service sector; he never has been.

    That being said, would I prefer a more "socialistic" candidate? Hell, yeah. And in an ideal world, a person like that would have a chance. But look around you. Is this an ideal world? I think that he is our best chance of beating Trump because he is moderate. And beat him, we must. Because I don't think that we can live through another four years of this.

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    1. I'm still not sure he has the best chance (I kind of thought all of them had a good chance) but I think he's good enough as a figurehead and has a hell of a bench behind him.

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  4. Biden is far more likely to put the entire Deep Bench in his cabinet than Sanders. Hell, Bernie can’t even bring himself to lose a race he’s lost. I can’t imagine him embracing the Blue team, putting all their strengths to work, taking their advice.

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    1. Meanwhile, Biden has already moved a little to the left. This is what movements can accomplish.

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  5. I think it might be chicken french fry soup.

    Unlike mimimanderly I left Delaware for good after a couple of decades, but not before I voted for Joe in '72. It was my first election. I haven't voted for him since, but if he is still on the ballot come November I will vote for him again. There is a lot of talent to fill out the cabinet and I also like the sound of Senate Majority Leader Elizabeth Warren.

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    1. That was also the first year I voted. I only remember voting for McGovern.

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  6. you boomers are shutting down the entire economy because you're afraid of a flu. Seriously, can you boomers kill yourselves? You are the most selfish generation to ever exist. You don't give a shit about climate change, why should we young people give a shit if you get sick and die of some virus? I HOPE the virus gets much stronger and kills you all.

    Do you boomers realize how universally hated you are? There is not one single demographic that does not hate you- white people, black people, asians, mexicans, indians, chinese, millennials, GenX, GenZ. Something tells me that you boomers are not going to have a very comfortable or easy retirement, especially once you end up in the retirement homes.

    Can you baby boomers hurry up and fucking drop dead? Enjoy your retirement homes cause we younger people will not take care of you even if we wanted to, due to the shitty economy you boomers created. Do you boomers realize that the younger generation is simply waiting for you to fucking drop dead?

    You are all going to end up in retirement homes and we all know that the elderly gets treated pretty badly in retirement homes. Well, that's what you get for ruining your own children's lives. Even if your children WANTED to take care of you, they couldn't, due to you boomers destroying the economy. So I hope you enjoy the retirement homes, boomer scum!

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    1. Dude! You stayed up all night and finished the essay. I thought the comment from the last post was a little brief, but you were only just getting started. Only problem is, now I recognize it from a while back. You're plagiarizing. Now that ain't right. Still, it shows some initiative. Nail the multiple-choice and we'll talk about advancement.

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    2. He/she sounds a little selfish and I wonder how he/she will cope when she/he realises in a few years time that he/she is now old and needing care.

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    3. Anon, dearest! How are you?! I hope you are well.

      Now, Anon -- if I may call you that -- I don't want to upset you, but we well remember this rant from several months ago. I know; you don't expect people our age to remember things, but that's kind of a stereotype. Our memories are so good that we can remember things that haven't even happened! You probably should have gone with your initial version of this. It was pithy. Always remember that brevity is the soul of wit. And lingerie. But I digress.

      The thing is, Anon... this is all stuff we already have told ourselves. We may be a selfish generation, but we feel appropriately guilty about it. And, although your diatribe was amusing the first time, and even funnier NOW, well, eventually you will have to get some new material. Even Seinfeld comes up with new stuff occasionally. Surely there are more things that you detest about us? Off the top of my head, there is our blatant not-give-a-shit attitude about how other demographics perceive us. So you might want to edit that bit out the next time.

      Also, we already figured out that our kids weren't going to "take care of us" back when kids decided to leave the farm in favor of the big city. So you can edit that bit out, too.

      But don't fret, dear Anon: we will die eventually. And so will you. So instead of harboring anger towards your lot in life, why don't you do things that will make the rest of your short life happy? I mean, if it's writing angry diatribes, go for it, I guess. But I think you'd probably enjoy sex and alcohol A LOT MORE than anger. Try them before the end. Please.

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    4. I was taken in by the shorter version, and made reply; but, now I recognize that, as many places as I've seen the same posting, this must be a bot. Someone suggested it was a Russian bot trying to sow dissention. I dunno.
      Cop Car

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    5. Yeah, it may be a bot, but I needed to exercise my sarcasm. I don't want it to get rusty.

      Plus, I'm already a couple drinks into the day because I am depressed and anxious, so there's that. Don't judge.

      I know that I don't want to have any more accounts than need be because I'm paranoid. So there are a bunch of blogs that I don't comment on because I have to sign up for Google mail or whatever. I don't need that. If a blogger can't handle an occasional troll with aplomb, then I don't necessarily WANT to comment on their site. You can comment as "CopCar" by going to the menu in "Reply As" and clicking "Name/URL". Then just type in "CopCar" in name and ignore URL. Easy peasy. I don't want to seem condescending, as we all have different levels of computer literacy. I'm great with e-mails, which my husband can't handle. I don't do texts -- which other people have actually gasped at. It doesn't matter, though, in the end, because we're all doomed.

      Have a good day!

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    6. I don't really need to be here, except to bring the meeting to order, do I?

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    7. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    8. Mimimanderly--Sorry if my comment came across as a criticism of your comment. Please believe that I really appreciate your sarcasm and meant no foul.

      I'm with you in not following blogs that force me to use my Google account to sign in. Thanks for teaching me about leaving out the URL. Obviously, I had no known that. Having used computers (main frames in the far past days) since 1958, I'm not exactly a newcomer; but, Blogger isn't my specialty!

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  7. Did you check the label on the freezer surprise? Otherwise, I'm with jono, it's ckn FF soup.

    Your point about the opposition Warren would have had IF she had gotten in is sad but realistic, unfortunately. I so hope she gets a place in a successful Democratic administration that will use her exceptional talents in a different way.

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    1. I can only imagine she will. And I think you're right, it's chicken noodle soup. But I didn't make it. Now I'm trying to remember if my neighbor and I are still on good terms.

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  8. Thank you for saying this. I sure wish Al Gore had won. What a different world this would be.

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    1. He couldn't have done much, but leaving some stuff undone would have been a huge benefit, and we wouldn't have gone quite so horribly in the wrong direction.

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    2. Awww...trickle down economics was set in concrete by Pres Reagan. Without that "aww shucks" geniality, we might be in reasonable territory instead of in far, far right territory.
      Cop Car

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    3. He certainly got the ball rolling.

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  9. Vote Blue No Matter Who! That's been our motto ever since we mourned the loss of Kamala. And I agree that Al Gore would have been the far superior choice in 2000 (but the Supreme Court decided to take that decision away from us).

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    1. Absolutely the Supreme Court did that. But Nader, a good man, was a major spoiler also.

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  10. You tell 'em Murr.
    That bowl of whatever look a bit like onion soup with the yellow on the surface being the fat that has risen to the top and frozen, so it will be easy to remove.

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  11. When did "I love my Grandma" turn into "OK Boomer" hate? I was surprised to find out how many people hated Hillary (and still think that was Russian propaganda planting) and now I have learned that the Xers, Ys, Millennials have no love lost for the post-WW2 generation. Or is this just Nature's way of passing the mantle?

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    1. It's just normal. Also, we kind of wrecked the planet and the economy, but everyone makes mistakes. Hey, if you missed it the first time around--just a few months ago--here's my take on the OK Boomer subject.

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    2. This should be a lesson to us all. BIRTH CONTROL, people! That would have solved a LOT of our problems from the get-go. Plus we don't NEED more people hating us; we got trolls for that!

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  12. Murr, you are so brilliant and oh so right about Warren. Bummed out doesn't begin to describe how I felt when she had to drop out. Warren is perfectly qualified to be President. Biden is too. I hope he chooses Klobuchar for his VP. Love "Senate Majority Leader Elizabeth Warren" !!!!!! Help, the quarantine is only 5 days old and I am running out of vital exclamation points so I CAN BE HEARD, I TELL YOU!!!

    (sigh)

    No one to yell at here. I am sorry. I feel better now.

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    1. I hear ya. I'm an introvert and I'm getting more lonely, depressed, and drunk all the time. I can only imagine how extroverts are handling all this.

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  13. I voted for a third party candidate in 2016 instead of for Hillary. BUT only because I was in California where I could afford to agree to vote that way in exchange for someone in Florida agreeing to vote for Hillary there, instead of throwing their vote away for the third party candidate. A worthy exchange, if a bit sleazy. I would have preferred just convincing him to change his vote, but it took that bribe to make it work.

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