I wish I could say that a week from today, we will know just who will be inaugurated on January 20. I think the odds that we will are long indeed. My bigger hope is that the Supreme Court doesn't need to be involved in the decision about just who will be inaugurated. At this point, I would accept even a general tradition being in place that a justice does not rule on an election issue involving the President who nominated the justice. Of course, even if there were such a tradition, it would likely be broken just as so much else has been broken in the last four years.
I should be keeping track of the number of text messages I'm getting from Uncle Joe, his running mate, his campaign chair, his wife (there has been only one from Jill, I think), the Democratic National Committee, and many of the friends of all of the above. We've gotten very little campaign literature via snail mail. I wonder if the campaigns are cutting their use of snail mail to save paper or to free up snail mail channels for the return of mail-in ballots. Of course, the USPS is now telling people who still have mail-in ballots not to mail them. Instead, they should take them to a drop-box or the office of their Voter Registrar. I find it hard to believe that there are people out there who have not yet made up their mind about the candidates. Are they waiting for one (or more) more October surprise?
Today's Washington Post has a very interesting article, "On election's edge, many see an abyss." There are people on both sides of the candidate issue who see an electoral victory for the other side as being something akin to the end of democracy or of the world as we know it. Can you say "apocalypse"? I would like to think that whatever outcome comes to pass, it can be accepted without violence? I considered making sure that the ammunition magazines for my handguns were full and ready (yes, I am a gun owner, one who greatly enjoys shooting at paper or vinyl targets), but decided that we're far enough out of the city that were violence of some sort be on its way, there would be time to load the magazines then. I am sad that I could not help but think about firearms as a possible post-election need; I hope this does not become a permanent mark of the new normal.
Moving away from public health and electoral issues, the ache in my back comes and goes depending on whether I have recently been making the acquaintance of a heating pad. No outdoor walk save the very first with the family dog, and that was a painful one. I've been alternating between sitting with the heating bag reading and doing what I can until it hurts again. I managed to cut the number of bankers' boxes in the basement family room by three, though I accomplished that by combining the contents of four almost-empty boxes. While sitting with the heating bag, I have been reading the latest edition of National Geographic, a special issue on the novel coronavirus. Fascinating and, so far, only a wee bit pessimistic.
Putting on my t-rex costume and sneaking up on neighborhood children who come to the porch on Halloween? Yay or nay?
1 comment:
I vote yea on the T-rex costume.
As for snail mail, we've had more than enough to light a bonfire, PA being one of the purportedly pivotal states. Since we know who we're voting for (and one of us dropped off a ballot yesterday; the other will vote in person next week...not trusting OF's efforts to stop counting at midnight, despite the fact that PA can't START processing mail/absentee ballots until election day.
Hope your back continues to improve every day. I've crested 110 miles in October (114.4 as of today) and going for another dozen or more in the next few, though TS Zeta may put a kink in that plan tomorrow.
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