In Case You Missed It (v60)

Last week's posts, for your initial (or repeat) viewing pleasure.

My Sunday School entry I described as being "out of character" because it was an all-AOC post, and I normally stay away from the Queens representative. Given the alternatives, though, she seemed like the best bet and it was a discussion with Jake Tapper, so I dove in to hear her thoughts on a 'progressive' Biden administration (and her role, should the Dems win), fracking, and on getting young people to the polls.

Turning to younger voters, Tapper wondered if the fracking thing would turn them off enough to stay home. AOC said that younger voters have "a very disciplined, activist mind-set" and aren't so much voting for their "favorite person" or someone they think is "perfect."

...right now, young people are so clear on their stances on many political issues, that they believe that they want to vote for a president that is at least going to be receptive to their advocacy, activism and protest... Joe Biden is a much better person in that position to be receptive and actually listen to the voices of advocates than Donald Trump, who is intensely focused on enriching himself and his friends.

At one point, Tapper told her it was "interesting watching you drag your party into the 21st century," which wasn't the first time they laughed during the interview.

The Extra Credit entry was a stop in the Face the Nation classroom, where Margaret Brennan talked with some of her colleagues about swing states, key voting demographics, and which columns we might find some states land in, whether they're dragged over kicking and screaming, or if they stampede their way in, running full tilt towards change. Ultimately, they landed on the old adage,"it ain't over until it's over." Ain't that the truth.  And here's part of where I landed.

With all of the knot-tying and untying and twists and turns that the punditry is going through already, based on exit polling and based on what they're hearing in prospective polling, in focus groups, from the campaigns, and from their Ouija boards, and with more than a week to go, I fear for what's going to happen next week. 

I dropped in a Quick Take about the decision by the then eight-Justice SCOTUS that sets the stage for the Rs to steal the election.  Here are a couple of excerpts; the first is from the folks at Vox.

If the Supreme Court of the United States had the power to overrule a state supreme court on a question of state law, this entire system of dual sovereignty would break down. It would mean that all state law would ultimately be subservient to the will of nine federal judges... They also sent a loud signal, just eight days before a presidential election, that long-settled rules governing elections may now be unsettled. Republican election lawyers are undoubtedly salivating, and thinking of new attacks on voting rights that they can launch in the next week. (emphasis added)

And this is from Justice ILikeBeer's decision.

For important reasons most States, including Wisconsin, require absentee ballots to be received by election day, not just mailed by election day. Those States want to avoid the chaos and suspicions of impropriety that can ensue if thousands of absentee ballots flow in after election day and potentially flip the results of an election. And those States also want to be able to definitively announce the results of the election on election night, or as soon as possible thereafter. States that require absentee ballots to be received by election day still have strong interests in avoiding suspicions of impropriety and announcing final results on or close to election night.

He doesn't seem to understand that not counting ballots creates suspicions of impropriety, and that not knowing who the president is on the first Tuesday of November is hardly the consequential thing he - and his president - think it is. We've managed to survive as a country for going on 250 years - and in most of them, we went to bed and didn't know who won the election. We can take it - we're Americans, damnit.

Last week's Wondering on Wednesday meandered around, from the somewhat disappointing announcement that former Miles Taylor, former Deputy Chief of Staff to former DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen was the person most of us hoped was Kellyanne Conway, to a scathing statement by the Philadelphia DA addressing presidential shenanigans, to Amy Coney Barrett's official swearing in at the Supreme Court, to a couple of headlines I got in the same email from a news organization. Take a look.

Republicans are on the verge of a spectacular upside-down achievement

Why Trump's re-election still seems likely 

It's pretty clear, I noted, that clearly no one knows what's going to happen. And I closed that post with some news from British oddsmakers, as well as some entertainment-only odds from a Vegas guy. You can place real or imaginary bets as you choose. 

The most difficult post of the week was Thursday's Middle-aged White Lady Perspective, in which I tackled the supposed differences between how Ds and Rs see the president; those perspectives were published in an op-ed in a Florida newspaper, and shared widely on Facebook. In the bolded statement, 'you' means Dems and 'I' means Republicans. The rest of the words are mine. 

The post was difficult because I didn't want to offend friends who posted it, and also because part of me knows that it's an exercise in futility, because if you believe what the pairings say, you're never going to understand what I'm saying. In the end, though, it was worth it to me to let this out of my head, and not have My Sweet Baboo have to listen to me yelling it. He agrees with me, but pretty sure he's tired of listening. 

You see Trump as a Republican; I see Trump as a Patriot. Donald Trump is not a Republican. He's not a conservative. He goes against much of that the Rs stand for. He says he loves our country, and he hugs and slobbers on the flag, and he waves his arms around during the national anthem, while demanding others stand at attention. He tells us how much he gave up to become president, and he says - regularly - that people who think like he is are 'patriots.'  Everyone else? Not so much. If you think the only way to love our country and be a patriot is to think like you, and be like you, you're missing the entire point of our country. 

And then, it was TGIF time. Two pictures, and 12 words.  That's all I had to offer. 

That's it - you're now all caught up. I'll be back later with today's Sunday School.