So glad I slept well last night. "Sleeping well," for me, means waking up at 5 a.m. instead of 3. I might make a quick bathroom trip during the night but that doesn't count. It would count if I felt the impulse to turn on the TV because of the election. After such prolonged obsessive coverage of politics by the media, we finally get the orgasmic day of the election. Heads would explode.
The only thing missing now seems to be Chris Matthews. Imagine a national election without Matthews who was such a staple for so long discussing politics. His star faded awfully fast.
These national media people probably deserve credit just for being willing to be in the arena. Matthews did his thing for so long. His network once put him forward as perhaps its brightest or most emblematic star. These stars can fade and disappear in a hurry. Imagine living in such a fishbowl.
Well, you can argue that some of these people "had it coming." Thing is, we are all human beings with human failures, openings for weaknesses to show. Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.
So Matthews made a comment one night, something about "listening to a woman" as if gender should affect credibility, and yes it comes off bad. A more ambiguous misstep was of "flirting talk" with a program guest off camera. Heaven help us all if there is a professional prohibition on simple flirting. What if the target of the overture is receptive? Surely you won't be Pollyannish and suggest that affairs do not happen.
So, it's the morning after election 2020 and the best hopes of Wall Street were not realized: a clear outcome. We do know for sure the Democrats are peeing in the hay with how they did. Beyond that one assumed fact is the dreaded uncertainty with the presidential race where we have this bull in the china closet named Trump. He "steps on it" continually although his fervent supporters are never dissuaded.
I have breakfast at a Morris restaurant where there is often a pickup parked outside with a profile of Trump on a side window. It's just one example of the reverence shown out and about toward a man whose wife, the First Lady, has said "who gives a fuck about Christmas." Well, I will continue having warm thoughts about the Christmas holiday, Melania notwithstanding.
We can't be sure as I write this that Trump will exit the presidency. He is so predictable and he never surprises us on the positive side. He did the most feared thing last night, incorrectly proclaiming victory. And then his army of lawyers will obviously fight hammer and tongs to discourage any further vote counting that might favor Biden. So this is what it has come to, America 2020: armies of lawyers in hand-to-hand in the closing stages of vote-counting.
All the well-known media anchors have appeared to assail Trump on his election night behavior as he proclaimed victory. But as we continually hear: do the old voices of established media have that much standing anymore? They were almost like the voices of God in the pre-digital days. The state of tech was such then, only a select few people could address the nation from their media perches. Joe Scarborough has talked about how these people would be "let past the velvet rope." It was as if they addressed us from a pulpit. Such was their power that when Walter Cronkite finally broke taboo to make a skeptical comment about Vietnam, it was widely thought to be a turning point. Lyndon Johnson commented something to the effect that "if I've lost Walter Cronkite, I've lost the country."
Who in his right mind would have wanted to talk up the Vietnam war? I mean, even in its earliest stages? John Wayne felt a movie had to be made to build up the war effort. My generation never gave a damn about it. We protested in all sorts of ways but it was tough getting a real media platform in those days before the Internet was even a twinkle in anyone's eye.
Today? "Sea change" hardly describes. And it appears that conservative more than liberal voices have been able to harness the new landscape. I say "conservative" but what I mean is people trying to sell themselves as conservative. There's a difference.
Sell yourself as liberal? That's almost impossible today. Or if you do, you are highly on the defensive. What was left of the media establishment decided in 2016 to restrain themselves on covering Bernie Sanders. The late Ed Schultz told a very revealing story about this. No such artificial restraint would have ever been thrown up for a "conservative" candidate. I heard a commentator of very good standing make the argument that if Sanders had eked out the Democratic nomination over Hillary Clinton, he really could have beaten Donald Trump.
Before fainting, you conservatives, realize that Sanders would not have been able to push much legislation through. Republicans had power and would have asserted themselves, but Sanders would have appointed judges. Most importantly, Sanders would have been a classy person with his conduct, his treatment of people and his respect for rules. I believe he calls himself a "non-practicing Jew." As a Jew he probably has no personal attachment to Christmas. But he would have respected Christians who did. I would choose his attitude over Melania Trump's.
I look down on Jews who mistreat the Palestinian people but outside of that, I have much admiration for them. They support education and are hard workers. I much prefer company with a Jewish intellectual over almost any other category of human being. Do you like Mel Brooks movies? My all-time favorite movie is "My Favorite Year."
I did vote on Tuesday here at the National Guard Armory in Morris MN. I put fears of the pandemic aside. The people there were very friendly and helpful. No sign of voter intimidation such as the "Proud Boys" to whom Trump had said "stand by." Trump promised that "sheriffs" would be at polling locations to watch for "voting irregularities" but I saw no uniformed law enforcement at the armory. How would they have done that anyway? "Excuse me, sir, is it possible you're not voting for Trump? We know you have relatives in America."
Isn't that funny? Give Trump four more years as president and we won't be laughing, as his autocratic inclinations burgeon with an acquiescent Republican Party.
I did one anomalous thing Tuesday: I voted for Michelle Fischbach even though I didn't like her. It's so sickening to see our fossil of a congressman, Collin Peterson, campaign like he's trying to tell us he's really a Republican. He emphasizes how he has disagreed with Nancy Pelosi, who happens to be speaker of the House on behalf of Collin's party. Well Collin, what's holding you back? If you really want to be a Republican, just announce you're switching.
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| Michelle Fischbach |
I vote "no" on any proposal to spend money for school purposes. A few years from now we'll realize we're way over-extended with our sprawling school campus and its bells/whistles. The pandemic will result in more and more families realizing they can handle many educational needs at home. School buildings will become more and more utilitarian, the way it should have been all along.
I voted for the two non-incumbents in the city council race, for reasons that should be obvious to you if you've been to my blogs before. Our current council put up a ridiculous fog of confusion over the water treatment plant. What a disgrace. No leadership at all. Ridiculous. Maybe we need Jewish people on the city council.
Stay tuned. Trump will stay the center of attention for the foreseeable future. I'd like to hear Chris Matthews' take.
Addendum: So what happens with Sue Dieter now that Peterson lost? I believe she was "communications director" even though the congressman already had a press secretary. My theory is that her position may have been ceremonial. She was out of work, no longer with the Morris paper. Her husband was once chairman of the Stevens County DFL. My guess is that she worked at home and probably spent a lot of time exchanging emails with people in a mostly pointless routine. Her work appears not to have helped him much.
My podcast for Nov. 4
As I ponder the election and Fischbach's win, I conclude we in the Morris area are much like an extension of the Dakotas. So I comment a little on South Dakota's governor, who many men like to describe as attractive. The permalink:
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - morris mn minnesota
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