Sarah Silverman

An actress/comedienne whom I love to watch, is Sarah Silverman!

She's a little in your face, some of her utterances are phrased deliberately to make people wince, and—I wince.   But I find her voice really sweet!  So I've sort of adored her from afar.  My sense of humor aligns closely with hers, and most of the time, my sense of indignation coincides with hers, again, uncomfortably closely. 

But, whereas I take a lot of trouble not to be offensive, because a blogger can only measure their success by how many readers they have, Sarah S, in contrast, considers that the more viewers she offends, the better!

Quite irrelevantly, I find her super cute!  But she seems very much a straight woman, but my 'Gaydar' is practically nonexistent, and I know this.  Anyway, it's only on the Blog that I make a fool of myself; in real life, I appreciate people in a sort of distant way. 

K.

Switching Candidates: Will it Work?

President Biden had a bad evening debating Donald Trump (Debate 1).  In fact, President Biden had such a bad time that, in despair, I called for Biden to back out, and for a new candidate for this election.

I still think this is the best decision.   The US needs younger leaders.  (Not youths in their 20s, but people younger than in their 70s and 80s.)  We should have had young people already working in the Party, ready to take up the reins. 

In the 2020 election, there were a number of these sorts of candidates: Pete Buttigieg, Eric Swalwell, Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, Kirsten Gillibrand, Beto O'Rourke, Andrew Yang, Marianne Williamson.  Over the years, American culture has evolved to accept a broader swath of society for any responsible job.

But the voters have become more picky.  (Not really more picky, but just as picky as in, say, 1960.)

Now, in the upper 'floors' of the Democratic Party, there are people who make decisions about what choice of candidate is likely to win.  In recent decades, they've always bet on a White man.  They threw in Hillary Clinton in 2016, but she lost.  Some of the reasons for the loss are:

• She's a woman. 
• They didn't like her personally (because of Bill Clinton, Bernie Sanders, etc)
• Too educated.
• Too Upper Class.
• Too Judgemental.

In spite of all these reasons, the Democrat 'election managers' took away the lesson: women won't work.  In their fear, they told themselves, Blacks and minorities will probably not work either. 

Basically, given all these fears, because of how much control the upstairs boys (and girls, I suppose) have over selecting the candidate, Biden is the only choice, it appears.  I'm sure we all feel: no, we don't think so.  But they have too much of a stranglehold on the process.  

To get back to Joe Biden.  You realize I don't know much about being President.  Clearly, Biden will find it difficult to debate Trump again.  He has candidly told someone that it is impossible to debate someone who's constantly lying.  (I know this is true; when you respond to a challenge,  Trump comes back with something from the fifth dimension, like blue is brown, and anyone who is unaccustomed to lies of that sort does not realized that he actually has won the point.  It gets in the way of responding to the next piece of nonsense Trump throws out.  Honestly, I myself would be at a loss trying to reply to a total lie such as Trump tosses out.  He says them as if he, Trump, believes them, but he probably knows they're lies. 

So, though debating anyone will be difficult for Biden—certainly debating Trump—being president would probably not be a problem. 

Kay

Don't Cancel Hamburgers and Beer

I was just watching a clip in which James Carville—a liberal political consultant—advises Democrats not to talk like women.  He says Left leaning women have spoiled the image of the Democratic Party, and it now comes across as preachy and judgemental.  It's as if the Democrats are saying: don't watch football; don't eat hamburgers; and some other startling directives.

I'm paraphrasing, but this gentleman is saying: Football is a popular sport!  You won't get anywhere by badmouthing Football!  And, by extension, 'Hamburgers are a popular food; don't go putting down hamburgers.  And the same goes for beer!'

Well, Trump is a, well, sort of popular guy; shouldn't we say anything nasty about him?

Anyway, advice on healthy eating habits is clearly a no-no.  Do not say anything against anything that's popular with the testosterone-infused Tea Party.  We don't want to come across as 'preachy' and 'feminine', because the Dems are perceived as being dominated by women, and moreover, health- conscious ones. 

This boils down to: don't tell them anything they don't want to hear.  I think James Carville's beer- loving friends have been kidding him about the lack of machismo in the party.  I don't know whether those at whom our PR is directed are going to buy our suddenly growing an extra pair of balls.  Trump's friends just might; they've bought so much BS from Mar-a-Lago, after you've bought tons of it, a few tons more is easy to swallow.  Unfortunately, those who are likely to understand what we stand for are not going to be persuaded by this nonsense. 

Kay

The Morning After

I'm told that things got better as the debate wound on, but no.  Biden has had a good several years, but this campaign season is going to be like shadowboxing with a demented skunk.

The MAGA crowd believes Trump (the skunk) when he says that his biggest failings and mistakes are actually brilliant triumphs.  Trump is playing to two audiences: 1—rural non-college people who will believe anything unscientific and illogical, and 2—hardcore Conservatives who really don't care what Trump says, as long as he wins.  The Democrats, of all stripes, and the undecided, on the other hand, care desperately, and we're hoping for some sense, and a clear signal from this debate.  Man, I wish I could text them some Tylenol, because they must need it so bad. 

My heart bleeds for everyone, the misguided Right, the frustrated Left, and the confused Millennials.  The Right, not so much.  The Millennials: very much.

When I was teaching, I would tell țhem: "I hope you guys are going to come out to vote!"  It was some years ago.   They would say at once:  We don't know whom to vote for!!  Can you explain all this stuff?

At that time, there was such a backlash against socialists professors, that I thought it would be prudent to take a neutral position, so I said, you gotta watch TV, listen to the candidates, and make your own decisions!  Stoopid. 

But apparently now Democrats are discussing how to get Beiden to stand down. 

Kay

I can't watch ...

I had the debate on for about fifteen minutes, until it seemed clear that Biden was having trouble recalling specific words he needed.  You can't debate obviously in that condition.  Trump was dishing out his usual 12 words repeatedly, making it sound as though he was making sense, but Biden seemed to be against the ropes  as they say. 

No politician is entirely altruistic.  Those who are more altruistic hardly ever get in office.  But I can confidently say: Biden has the good of the country at heart; Trump wants to stay out of jail, go on a revenge spree, and make more money. 

The Biden-Trump Debate

I am so worried about this upcoming debate—this is Tuesday; the debate is on Thursday, as far as I know—that I have been quiet about it, not knowing what to say.

On one hand, Biden, even if not as forceful as I would like, or as eloquent, hasn't said anything as wildly crazy as Trump has.  I say that not because I'm opposed to the content of what Trump says from the point of view of any ordinary person; I don't judge Trump from an ultra-Left point of view.  But even from the conservative point of view, Trump is in the loony bin.

It's really strange how anti-immigrant so many Republicans of clearly immigrant heritage have been.  I think, in the most rational instances, they're reacting to the complete lack of restraint, or order, in the controls at the border.  Even I, who have lots of immigrant ancestry, look on the border situation with alarm; there, I said it.  Let's face it: we're asking our border workers—guards, lawyers, social workers—to do an impossible thing, to be kind and understanding, and yet firm and inflexible.  The border problem of the USA is very much incompatible with the attitudes of a majority of the citizens.  We want to keep them out, while understanding the impossibility of their lives in their home countries (many, or most of which are ruled by crooked businessmen).

What can I say?  We're on the brink of being led by a crooked businessman ourselves once again.  The only thing, I think, standing in the way of Biden showing as a complete contrast to crooked Trump, is the opaque problem of Hunter Biden. 

This video showed up on my Facebook feed, and I thought I must post it!  There are some signs that the two women are uncomfortable being recorded; maybe I'll take it down pretty soon. 

https://www.facebook.com/reel/471536935263694

I thought this dance was super cute!

Rainbow Valley

Lucy Maude Montgomery, the famous Canadian author, who created Anne of Green Gables, had a wonderful sense of humor.  It came to life nowhere better than in the story of Rainbow Valley, the seventh Anne of Green Gables book.  Anne is married, in this story, and the mother of no less than six children: Jem, the oldest, Walter, twins Nan and Di, Shirley, Susan's favorite, and Rilla, the youngest. 

This is, in my view, the most colorful of the books, with the most colorful characters.  There's Mary Vance, the orphan girl who is taken to work at Miss Cornelia's home; Reverend John Meredith, a widower who comes to be the Presbyterian minister, and his four children, Jerry, Faith, Una, and little Carl.  There's also Lida Marsh, who walks around barefoot in the winter snow, and lots of other fascinating characters. 

The minister's home, given by the church, has a very small yard, so the four kids tend to play next door, in what was the Methodist cemetery (now no longer in use).  The ongoing rivalry between the Methodists and the Presbyterians is one of the funniest aspects of the book, but will make very little sense to present-day kids, and probably many adults!

If you happen to pick up this story to start reading it, look out for a mention of the song Polly Wolly Doodle.  It is a riot!

Kay