TGIF 1/1/2021

How about we go all celebratory for this week's entry?

Cheers to the end of the current Congress on Sunday. The next Congress, the 117th, begins at and the beginning of the next one, also on Sunday. There are 45 new Republican members of the House, and 15 new Dems. That the Dems lost so many seats, at a time when they were hoping for a 'blue wave,' is not a good sign, but we'll see how things go.  There are also two new Dem Senators and six new Rs, with two seats to be decided in Georgia on Tuesday.  

Cheers to the Georgia runoffs. Voter registration was sky high, turnout has been high, and the polls are tight - not that anyone dares pay attention to polls, right? It is fun to look at the push me-pull you aspects of the race, where Trump-supporting extremists are still saying the November election was rigged and so there's no reason to vote in the runoffs, while the at the same time the president, the president-elect, and many others are going to Georgia to drum up voter excitement and drive turnout. I expect we'll see two red wins, but you never know. I think maybe what we all should be rooting for, regardless of our politics, is an early decision, so we can get over our bad selves and move on. It's long past time that we put the 2020 election to bed.

Cheers to progress with vaccines. I don't think we were even close to hitting the promised 20,000,000 vaccines by 12/31/20. And we're hearing horror stories about distribution plans - or the lack thereof, vaccines sitting in warehouse undistributed, and of course there's the by now par-for-the-course finger-painting coming from a certain guy with a really popular Twitter account.  And we had a fired hospital pharmacist arrested for purposefully tainting vaccines by leaving them out for too long, and we had some folks who received injections of Regeneron - a treatment, not the vaccine. And even given all of that, I believe that things are going to start falling into place, that we'll get the logistics and the arguing worked out so that folks will get the shot in their arm that we need in the country's arm. I believe it's going to get better sooner than later, and I hope you'll add your optimism to mine.

Cheers to Brexit. I've got no compelling personal interest in the UK's decision to leave the EU; I kind of think it was a bad idea, but I don't know enough to comment intelligently. I do, however, appreciate that they managed to get a deal done, finally, and that things both sides can move forward. This, too, is something we'll have to watch to see what the impact will be on the US and the rest of the world, and whether the folks who voted to leave will be happy with their victory. And, we'll have to wait and see if others (Poland, perhaps?) will be emboldened to have a 'leave' vote of their own.

Cheers to 2021. Rarely have so many, who disagree on so much, shared such an appreciation for the passage of time. The turning of the page on a calendar. The dropping of a crystal ball in Times Square. Fireworks over iconic landmarks around the world. Weird performances by musicians some of those watching have never heard of, or hope to never hear from again. 

Our reasons for eagerly awaiting the arrival of 2021 surely include wanting to get past the worst of the pandemic - that one's shared by just about everybody. Others? Wanting to see the end of the Trump administration, or the start of the Biden Administration. The potential end of Mitch McConnell's reign of terror. A return to normalcy. The thrill of having the Buffalo Bills in the playoffs, and the Patriots watching on TV. They are endless, the reasons one wants to see the dawn of the new year - but even in times as divisive as these, most of us will agree we're glad 2020 is over, and we're looking forward to better things in 2021. 

Cheers to us, and TGIF, everyone.

Wondering on Wednesday (v191)

Ready... set... wonder! 

• I wonder if anyone at all honestly believes that Republicans are not being exactly as partisan in defending the president as the Democrats are in calling for his impeachment? I mean, if we are supposed to believe that the latter is driven by political ideology and dismay about losing the election, why would any sane person think that the former is anything other than blind allegiance to the winner?

• Was anyone else watching or listening to the House Judiciary Committee's hearing on Monday, wondering how cool it would have been if someone - anyone - had stood up and bellowed "OAR-DURRRRRRR" like the recently retired Speaker of the Commons John Bercow? I mean, seriously - the hearing (the couple of hours I listened to before losing patience) - was a cluster of whining and yelling and posturing and gibberish and predictable voice votes and annoying roll calls -- and worse, there was not a bit of charisma exhibited by any of them, least of all the chairman. I was begging for a Bercow, I really was. 

• I wonder, has Christopher Wray been fired yet? I haven't checked Twitter all that much today, but I can't imagine he's going to be the current Director of the FBI for a whole lot longer. Staying with the same presidential tweet, I have to wonder what the "greatest men and women working there" think of their new-found accolades, having been denigrated by the president throughout his time in office. Maybe that's Trump's way of saying I'm sorry?

• A bit of additional diversity was added to the December Democratic debate, as entrepreneur Andrew Yang has met the qualifications: 4% approval in four approved national polls or 6% in two early-state polls and at least 200,000 unique donors and at least 800 donors in at least 20 states. The qualifiers to date, in alphabetical order (to prevent the Bernie Sanders contingent from freaking out if he's not listed first): Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, Sanders,  Tom Steyer, Elizabeth Warren, and Yang. I'm wondering tonight how many of the remaining non-qualifying candidates will continue to stay in the race, especially if this is not the first debate they've missed.

• Folks in the UK go to the polls tomorrow; current polling suggests that the Conservatives, led by Boris Johnson, will prevail against Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party, but we've learned on our side of the pond how wrong polls can be. I wonder what will happen if Johnson doesn't prevail, almost as much as I wonder what will happen if he does. Will other countries start making their own moves to leave the EU? And what will our response be, other than tariffs? I mean, there will be tariffs, right?  Trump's still president, after all...

• I know about Black Friday, and Cyber Monday, and Giving Tuesday, and Small Business Saturday, but I had to wonder what Green Monday was all about. I only learned about it when I got more than a dozen emails from retailers (they're still coming today, I might add). In case you're in the dark, as I was, the 2nd Monday of December is apparently the day that lots of retailers kick off their holiday sales

There's more - there's always more... but what are you wondering about today?

Wondering on Wednesday (v179)

I had no idea it's been so long since I've wondered out loud, as it were, on Wednesday - looks like it was a month ago?

I wonder about that right off the bat. I mean, vacation aside, it's not like there nothing head-scratch worthy going on. Sigh

Here's just some of what has me wondering tonight.

• The 'prorogation' of the British Parliament. What a fascinating process! Just suspend the whole thing, and don't let anything get in my way, says PM Boris Johnson. And we thought the filibuster was bad? How long, I wonder, before #POTUS will be asking Snitty Snitty Bill Barr if there's a way he can do the same thing here? It would be way more cooler than just forcing Mitch McConnell to 'go nuclear', something Trump has called for several times. I mean, he sees a massive military parade, and wants one... He sees an obsequious press in a dictatorial country, and wants one... I mean, this 'put parliament on the sidelines' thing is right up his alley.

• There are around a dozen members of Congress not running for reelection next year - so far - and the majority of them are Republicans. This is on the heels of 34 Republicans not running for reelection in 2018. There are a variety of reasons cited - usually the desire to do something else (is Fox News hiring?), or spend more time with their families, and so on. Most don't say it's because they can no longer keep quiet about the direction the party is taking, but I have to wonder how much that plays a part?  And will we have to wait for the books to come out before we know for sure? 

• How many resorts are there in the United States that are near airports and are not owned by the Trump family, I wonder? And why wouldn't the United States government consider using even the worst of those resorts for the next G7 summit, instead of entertaining discussions about enriching the president by using his Doral resort? How hard do you have to wonder about simple things like this?

• And speaking of Snitty Snitty Bill Barr, is there really no other place for him to throw his annual holiday party than the president's hotel in DC, I wonder?  Seriously - that's the ONLY place that could accommodate him, in all of the capitol area? And lest you're wondering, this is not a case of me being disappointed I'm not on the guest list - it's really a case of how can people like Barr be so unconcerned about the appearance of a conflict of interest, of a lack of independence, for the role of AG, for the Justice Department as an institution, and for the people that work there? 

• It seems that Kirsten Gillibrand is the first of the rest of the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates to read the handwriting on the wall; a couple of hours ago she announced she's dropping her candidacy after failing to qualify for the September 12th debate. Who else will be announcing a similar decision tonight, I wonder?  Ten have qualified: Biden, Sanders, Warren, Harris, Buttigieg, Booker, Klobuchar, Castro, Yang and Castro. The rest have not. I'm liking that smaller debate stage - how about you?

There's more to wonder about - there always is. What's on your mind?

TGIF 11/16/18

How was your week?

Better than the president's maybe?  He failed to go to Arlington National Cemetery on Veterans Day, with no explanation offered. Until today, that is, when an explanation materialized: he was busy doing the country's work, making lots of phone calls and other stuff, and besides, he just visited a cemetery in another country (after not visiting one as scheduled), and doesn't that count?

And then there was the Mueller tweet storm, and how Trump's "easily" finished his written questions, without the help of his lawyers, we're told, even as Rudy Giuliani,one of those lawyers, is expressing concern that there could be 'traps' in the questions. With no timetable from Mueller, it's hard to know when we'll find out if in fact traps were laid and bait taken, or whatever the appropriate metaphor would be.

And finally, there was the order by one of his own judges that people's enemy #1, CNN's Jim Acosta, must have his White House access restored temporarily pending further discussions (or dismissal of the whole thing).  Trump said it was no big deal, while at the same time suggesting that he'll implement rules and regulations for press conferences. Oh, the irony of the anti-regulation president needing to have protective regulations to talk with the press..

You probably had a better week than Britain's PM Theresa May, too. Her Brexit deal gives everyone something to hate, caused bombshell resignations and was reported as chaotic uncertainty. Not bad for someone trying to do something that's almost impossible.

Who actually had a good week?  Brian Kemp, the vote-suppressing former Georgia Secretary of State who will be the state's next governor, now that Stacy Abrams has determined she cannot win.

But to watch an elected official who claims to represent the people in the state baldly pin his hopes for election on suppression of the people's democratic right to vote has been truly appalling.

This is not a speech of concession. Because concessions means to acknowledge an action is right, true or proper. As a woman of conscience and faith, I cannot concede that.

So did the First Lady; she who rules the East Wing got a key West Wing person fired.

And so did Elvis Presley, who along with Babe Ruth, Utah Senator Orrin Hatch, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach, Minnesota Vikings star Alan Page and others, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by president Trump.  The president noted Presley's military service, movie career, award nominations and wins, and "record breaking" crowds.

TGIF, everyone.

The UK's Brexit Vote

Lots of people who are very well paid are trying to figure out what we should learn from the vote in the UK to leave the European Union.

Here's a few I've learned so far:

• Some people say they voted Leave "as a protest" against "politicians who don't listen" to them.
• Some people say they voted Leave but they "never thought their vote would count" 
• Some people voted Leave only to find out that one of the biggest campaign promises was a lie
• Some people voted Leave because "immigrants are stealing their jobs"
• People in the cities voted Remain, people in rural areas voted Leave
• Leaders of the Vote Leave campaign are suggesting that there's "no hurry to leave" now, as they watched global economic shock waves ripple across time zones
• British Prime Minister David Cameron announced his resignation, effective within the next four months or so, as he was not the right person to lead his country to their next destination.

Feel free to draw your own conclusions on similarities (or the lack thereof) between the UK and the US.